


Destinies Fulfilled

by daylightlucidity



Series: Destinies Fulfilled [1]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cassandra has many feelings and is bad at expressing all of them, F/F, Gen, Season 3 rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 122,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23370772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daylightlucidity/pseuds/daylightlucidity
Summary: In the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, Cassandra makes a friend. It doesn't take her long to realize that her new ghostly companion isn't what she seems. With the stakes higher than ever and no more time to keep on waiting in the wings, Cassandra decides to take her destiny into her own hands and beat Zhan Tiri at her own game.
Relationships: Cassandra & Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra & Varian (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra & Zhan Tiri, Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Series: Destinies Fulfilled [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186466
Comments: 324
Kudos: 563





	1. The House of Yesterday's Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Essentially this story is a rewrite of the end of season 2 and season 3, where Cassandra has a number of different motives for taking the moonstone and she is aware of who the ghost girl is from nearly the beginning. This is my first posted fic, so any comments or criticisms are definitely welcome!
> 
> Enjoy!

"Well, it's official. We are stuck." Frustration was evident in Rapunzel's voice, a sentiment shared by everyone in the caravan following its jarring halt.

_That we are_ , Cassandra thought to herself. She gazed out at the tree that was now blocking their way and briefly thought about going outside to see if she could fix the situation. Unfortunately, the intensity of the storm outside would make that incredibly difficult, if not impossible.

"I guess we'll just have to wait out the storm in here," Cass assessed. 

"Or maybe not." 

Cassandra was caught off guard by Rapunzel's answer. Her eyes followed in the direction the princess was looking at. Through the rain she could see a strange plum colored building that appeared to be made out of shells. It seemed to be the only building in the area for miles, standing on its own in the middle of the woods. There was an orange light that dimly permeated through the windows, casting an ominous glow on the landscape. Cassandra hated it immediately.

"Raps, I know what you're thinking, but that place creeps me out."

Cassandra was interrupted by a certain former thief pushing her to the side so he could see what all the fuss was about.

"Hang on, I want to have a look!" Eugene decreed as Cassandra's temper flared.

"Ugh, could you be more annoying?"

He looked thoughtful as he considered her question. 

"Hmm, let me see," he said, and answered by pulling on a lock of her hair.

"Ow!"

"Ha-ha! Would you look at that? I can be." Cass glared up at the who she considered to be the world's most infuriating man. She was sorely tempted to give him a piece of her mind, but considering that her best friend was seconds away from making a decision that would likely place all of them in mortal peril, she let it slide in favor of talking her down.

"Look, Raps, I can see where this is going. You're going to say something like, 'That shell house looks like a warm, dry place.' And then I say, 'Let's not rush into anything. We should be careful--'"

She looked over to see they were no longer by her side. In fact, they were halfway to the house already, so they were never even listening in the first place. Typical. 

" _And_ , they're gone," she muttered dryly. 

One day they would regret not heeding Cass's warnings. By the looks of it, today could be that day.

* * *

Today was absolutely that day. She knew coming into this house was a bad idea; Matthews' welcome of " _Please enjoy your stay, however long that may be_ " was a brightly colored warning sign that this was a capital B Bad idea. Still, never in her wildest dreams did she think it would be trapped-in-a-mirror-dimension-and-replaced-by-a-demon bad. And yet, here they were, trapped in a black and white mirror dimension and replaced in the living world by demons. Even worse, she was trapped in here with Dumb, Dumber, and Fitzherbjerk, with Raps nowhere in sight.

After one last futile, full force charge into the mirror, Cassandra collapsed onto the ground alongside Lance and Eugene. 

She was so over this. “I said we shouldn't come to this place, but did anyone listen? Noooo.”

Unsurprisingly, Eugene was quick with a rebuttal.

"No, we did not. But in our defense, we never listen to you!” he said gleefully and Cassandra saw red, even in this black and white mirror prison in which they were trapped.

"You know what, Fitzherbjerk, I've had about enough of your--"

She was interrupted by Lance, who told them to stop bickering and figure out a way to escape from this prison. She relented as it was a sound point, but she didn't let go of her fury. She was so sick of not being taken seriously, of not being listened to. As she dully registered the feeling of the throbbing in her ruined arm, she clung to her feelings of anger in an effort to ignore it. She had become used to the dull aching sensation, but the pain had been exacerbated by charging repeatedly into the mirror. She couldn't think about the state of her arm, not when they were in a situation as dire as this.

* * *

To everyone's relief, they had made it out of the mirror debacle in one piece. And then there was the debacle of the front door disappearing. And the debacle of Lance, Shorty, and Cassandra turning into children (this incident still left everyone reeling). Since they were still stuck in this godforsaken "house" with no possible way of escaping, Cassandra didn't even want to imagine what kind of nightmares it still had in store for them. Rapunzel suddenly disappearing on them wasn't exactly reassuring.

This was why she had elected to split up from Lance and Eugene. Now they could cover more ground and speed up the process of finding Rapunzel. Now that she was alone with only Owl to accompany her, she reflected once again on her feelings of bitterness of how they even ended up here in the first place. 

_No one listens to her_. She had half a mind to cut her way out of this house, but she wasn’t the type to abandon her friends, no matter how reckless and stupid and condescending they were being. While they made her unbelievably angry, they were still her friends. They still shared tender moments as a team where they all had fun together, moments that almost made everything worth it. Like last night where they whistled around the fire together, and the friendly bickering, and when Raps would give her one of those smiles that would melt her heart. 

The same Raps who was missing in this shell from hell.

What was she thinking? Going down this train of thought would lead nowhere, so she pushed her feelings aside in favor of focusing on the situation. Raps needed her help. She would push through, and wait for her moment. She was certain that she would have her moment to shine, and everyone would recognize just how capable she really is.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a door opening. 

“Cassandra?” A singsong voice called out her name, melodically.

"Hello?" she called out, examining the mysterious doorway. 

Cautiously, she stepped through it, suspecting another trick.

"Rapunzel, is that you?" she asked, squinting through the blinding white light.

"Cassandra," the voice whispered again, and Cassandra stepped forward through the doorway. She flinched as the door slammed shut behind her. Cassandra now found herself standing in the middle of a vibrant green wooded area, a far cry from the dark and ominous shell house she had just been wandering through. She drew her sword and assessed her surroundings as the voice echoed around her, continuing to call her name. 

As she turned around, she was surprised to find what appeared to be the ghostly blue form of a young girl. She was dressed elegantly with her haired tied up into two neat buns with a gemstone on her forehead.

"There you are, Cassandra. I had nearly given up on you."

The girl's voice was sweet and rang like a bell, and although she appeared young, the manner in which she spoke and carried herself had an almost ancient quality to it. 

"Who are you?" Cassandra asked, as she slowly lowered her sword.

"A friend, or at least I'd like to be."

Cassandra sorely doubted that. As disarming as this whole situation was, she couldn't forget just where she had entered this forest from. This whole thing had to be another trick by the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, and she'd be damned if she was going to fall for another one of its tricks. She needed to find Rapunzel.

"Come." the girl commanded, as she seemed to float further down the path into the woods.

"Wherever you're taking me better have a blonde princess." she grumbled, and followed her.

Eventually they emerged into a clearing. The view there was something spectacular to behold. There was a small cottage that was nestled on a small island in the middle of a lake, connected to the woods only by a small bridge. Behind the house was a cliff with a waterfall cascading down it, powering the mill next to the cottage.

It was beautiful.

It was familiar.

Too familiar.

"This place...feels familiar." she said aloud to her new companion. In response, the girl grabbed her hand and led her forward toward the cottage. She was taken off guard when the girl pulled her straight through the front door into the interior of the home, phasing right through the wall. She was incorporeal just like the young girl, and that was incredibly unsettling.

_What on earth is this place?_

Her thoughts were interrupted as she registered the change in scenery. She walked forward, examining the welcoming interior of the cottage. The inside was warm, comfortable, and achingly familiar. As she was admiring the wood furnishings, the sound of a music box grabbed her attention. Like the cottage itself, the tune was achingly familiar, and her consciousness banged against the walls of her memory to find out where she had heard this melody before.

She didn't have to wait long to find out where she had heard the tune before. As she looked for the source of the music, she was startled to see a young girl in a green dress with long black hair that cascaded down her back. Her jaw dropped when she realized this wasn't just any young girl.

"Do you recognize that child?" her new companion asked her softly. She didn't warrant that with a response. Of course she recognized the girl; it was herself when she was younger. She couldn't have been older than five years old at the time. She watched mesmerized as her younger self walked towards the end of the room. Cassandra didn't even notice there was another person in the room with them until the child version of her presented the music box to someone behind a privacy curtain, asking them to wind it.

"Not now, darling, mommy is in a hurry," the woman said emerging into the room, her face obscured by a hood.

Cassandra froze in place. Was this hooded woman her mother? After all these years, was she finally going to find out who her mother was? Her thoughts raced ahead, thinking of all of the scenarios that she had imagined over the years about who her mother could have been, what could have happened to her, why she would have been given up her daughter in the first place.

"That's my-" Cassandra started, watching the woman walk up to the mirror.

Nothing in her wildest dreams or most horrifying nightmares could have prepared her for what came next. The woman removed the hood to examine herself in the mirror to reveal a face that she had only seen in wanted posters and Rapunzel's private paintings. The woman standing before her....her _mother_....was Gothel. The same woman who had taken Rapunzel as a baby and kept her in a tower for eighteen years to keep herself young forever.

"Mother," the ghost girl finished for her. "Yes, it is."

Cassandra couldn't do anything but stare at the scene unfolding before her. She watched the interaction between Gothel and her younger self unfold, and her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Her own mother spoke so unkindly to her, and her younger self responded with the sweetest smiles and purest love for her undeserving mother.

_For_ my _mother_ , Cassandra thought to herself painfully.

As Gothel prepared to step out the door, her younger self called to her and presented the music box for her to wind, and she watched as her mother begrudgingly bent down to wind it for her. And then she was off, leaving her four-year-old daughter alone to fend for herself.

Young Cassandra moved around the house with the brightest smile, cleaning and attending to her duties faithfully like no young child should have to do. The young girl then proceeded to dust off a heart and place it in her mothers bed, and her older counterpart wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

There her younger self was, waiting for her mother to come home, to love her and care for her like a mother should. And even at that young age, she understood that her mother's love came with strings attached, and that hurt Cassandra so deeply in a way she could not properly express with words. Even now in her early 20s, she continued to work hard to earn the love and respect of others, the kind of adoration she always knew came with strings attached. Seeing her four-year-old self already with that lesson ingrained in her was heartbreaking.

Even after all these years, she continued to wait in the wings. She worked so damn hard her entire life and waited for her moment for someone to love and respect her unconditionally, and it never came.

As the sun dropped below the horizon, her thoughts continued to consume her. She sat in the windowsill with her younger counterpart, waiting to see when Gothel would return. She knew in her heart what was coming next, but knowing and seeing are two completely different things.

It all happened so quickly. One second her younger self was on the ground playing with her music box, and the next second came the sound of horses running and men shouting. The two of them stood up and looked out the window to see royal guards racing at breakneck speed toward the cottage. In the following second royal guards knocked down the door into the cottage.

"Where is she, where is the princess?" the guard in front demanded, and Cassandra recognized the younger version of her father.

In that moment it registered to Cassandra that he knew _exactly_ who her mother was, and that he has been lying to her all of these years. She had asked him before if he had known her birth parents, and she actually believed him when he had told her that he had never met them. As she watched the scene unfold, she guessed that part was technically true since he never met Gothel face to face, but it didn't change the fact that he knew her identity and deliberately misled his adopted daughter into believing that he didn't know her heritage.

Next came the sound of a baby crying. Cassandra looked out the window to see a hooded Gothel standing on the other end of the bridge, carrying a small child with golden hair. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the child was Rapunzel. Gothel looked almost..conflicted. Cassandra looked down at her younger self, who climbed out of the window to walk into the door frame.

"Mama?" she cried out in her soft voice, and the guards sprung into action. They were too slow, for in that moment a decisive look crossed Gothel's face as she cut the rope to the bridge.

If she thought her heart had shattered before, it was now crumpled into dust as she watched her younger self drop the music box after coming to the realization that her mother had abandoned her.

"Mama?" she cried out again, walking forward as if it would stop Gothel's retreating form in the distance.

"No one's going to harm you, little one. You're safe with me," her father said, placing his helmet on the younger Cassandra who promptly burst into tears. Older Cassandra in that moment forgot how to breathe. She had never seen her father display such warmth and affection before, being the uptight Captain of the Guards that he is, and she found it hard to believe that this was how her childhood as she remembered it started.

He carried her away on his shoulders as she cried out for her mama again, and Cassandra couldn't take anymore. Still in the doorway, she promptly fell to her knees and reached out for the music box that laid in pieces beside her. Before she could, it faded out of existence, and for the first time in a long time she broke into tears.

Closing her eyes, sobs raked her body. So much was taken from her at such a young age. All of her imaginings of her mother had been pulled out from under her, and had been replaced by a reality that was so much more terrible than she could ever dream. She was never loved. Her own mother had abandoned her without a second thought, leaving her behind at the age of four in favor of whisking an infant Rapunzel away to her tower.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Cassandra. Sometimes the most painful truths are the most difficult to remember." The voice of her ghostly companion had startled her, and she looked around to find she was no longer in the cottage, but rather in the woods. Knowing she wasn't alone, she fought back her tears.

"You've always felt outshined by Rapunzel, haven't you?"

Those words hit home in a way Cass didn't care to admit, and the waterworks nearly started flowing again before the blue girl continued. "And you always will. Unless..."

"Unless?" she asked. She needed to know if there was something she could do. All of her life she has fought tooth and nail for her moment in the sun, for her time to shine. If there was something she could do to guarantee that, she would do absolutely anything. _Anything_.

"You take the moonstone out from under Rapunzel," the girl said simply. Cassandra flinched. That was not what she was expecting the girl to say.

"Wait, what? Why would I ever take the moonstone away from Rapunzel? The moonstone is her destiny," Cassandra said. That's why they were on this insane trip in the first place; Rapunzel had to find the moonstone so she could stop the black rocks. It called out to her and led a path for her all this way; it was obvious that this was her destiny. 

"Oh my dear, do you really believe it is _Rapunzel's_ destiny to wield the moonstone?" she asked mockingly.

"Why wouldn't it be? The rocks are laying out a path for her." Cassandra said bitterly.

"Don't be foolish, Cassandra," the girl said, and for the first time Cassandra suspected that this innocent looking child was much more sinister than what meets the eye. "Yes it's true that the moonstone calls out to the sundrop, but do not mistake that for her destiny. Because the two celestial objects are drawn to each other does not mean they should be reunited." The statement was vague, and left Cassandra wondering just how much this girl knew about the moonstone and the sundrop. "You see, Rapunzel has already fulfilled her destiny. Not only is she the sundrop, but she is also the crown princess of Corona. Her future has a clear direction already, and it already shines so brightly, as you know. Maybe a little too brightly." Again, the weight in Casandra's chest grew heavier. "Just as you are outshined by Rapunzel, the moon is outshined by the sun. Don't you see, my dear? The moonstone is your destiny. "

Cassandra went to respond, but found she had no words. 

The ghost girl waltzed closer to her with a compassionate expression. "Again, I am sorry about everything you have been through, Cassandra. You have waited in the wings for far too long. As your friend, I want nothing more than for you to have your moment. You have already been _burned_ by Rapunzel, so to speak," she said sympathetically, gently touching her injured hand. "And, I'm afraid, if you wait much longer, you may run out of time."

Dread coursed through her veins. She knew that her injured hand wasn't healing, but would this accidental injury actually kill her? Was this girl implying that she could save herself by taking the moonstone? Could it possibly be the case that the moonstone was her own destiny, and not Rapunzel's?

_No, I have to stop entertaining these thoughts._

Before she could bite back at her supposed "friend", the girl started speaking.

"I understand that I have left you with much to think about. I will take my leave now so that you can have some time to process before you are reunited with your friends."

Wait. Friends. That's right, Rapunzel was missing before this whole debacle.

"Farewell for now, Cassandra," the girl said sweetly before vanishing, leaving Cass there alone with her thoughts.

Cassandra is many things. She's brave, she's hotheaded, and she's vindictive. However, one thing she is not is stupid. It was clear that this girl was messing with her emotions in an attempt to manipulate her and turn her against Rapunzel. And to be honest, Cassandra was impressed by how successful the girl was; she really had gotten into her head, and the spell was only broken by Cassandra remembering where she was in the first place. She’d be stupid to start trusting what she encountered in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, let of all a creepy little ghost girl. Well, a creepy ghost girl who somehow had the power to show Cassandra's childhood memories to her. Even with the suspicion that the girl was manipulating her to betray Rapunzel, it didn't change the fact that it hurt deeply to see her own mother abandon her for Rapunzel.

_You’ve always been outshined by Rapunzel, haven’t you?_

While she didn’t trust the girl in the slightest, those words continued to echo in her mind. She let herself feel for a while longer, just letting the tears flow as Owl lent his comforting presence. 

After what felt like hours but was likely only minutes, she was caught off guard by the door rematerizaling a few dozen yards ahead of her.

She ran for it as if her life depending on it. She was done with the forest, done with these traumatic childhood memories, and absolutely done wallowing in her feelings. Catching her breath she flung open the door, and felt a surprising numbness when she realized the door had returned her to the present where the group gathered around the caravan. She only vaguely registered Eugene's snarky comment before she heard Rapunzel call out her name. Still reeling from her encounter, she was sure the look she gave the princess wasn't pretty.

"Thank goodness you're safe!" Raps exclaimed, enveloping Cass in a tight hug. The last thing Cassandra wanted right now was to be touched by another human being, and if it was anyone but Rapunzel, she was positive that they would have been thrown roughly over her shoulder.

"Are you all right? Where were you?" Rapunzel asked, concern coloring her features. She lightly grabbed Cassandra's shoulders and stared down at her armor-clad arm. Her injured, armor-clad arm.

Cassandra couldn't put into words exactly why Rapunzel staring at her injured hand infuriated her so much. 

"I'm fine, Rapunzel," she snapped. A blatant lie. She was the farthest from fine that she had been in a long time. She felt as if she had just experienced an entire lifetime of misery in the small amount of time she has been gone, but she'd be damned if she discussed any of what she just went through with Rapunzel. Her friend probably wouldn't listen to her anyway. Like Eugene had said, it wasn't like they ever listened to her; Raps only seemed to listen when it was convenient.

And even if she did listen to her, she would have to explain what and who she saw behind that door, and she was not prepared to discuss this matter with Rapunzel. She didn't think she ever would be; she couldn't even process her own personal thoughts and feelings on the matter. She seethed in her slew of emotions, and did everything in her power to push them down for the time being. Cassandra had enough of dealing with her emotions for the day. She embraced the numbness that was starting to overcome her.

"Let's get movin', huh?" was all she said as she started walking toward the caravan to help set up for the next leg of the journey.

Cassandra didn’t miss the concerned looks coming from Raps and Eugene before they joined her in preparing the caravan. She pointedly ignored them, and let the work she was doing distract her from her thoughts.


	2. The Last Leg of the Journey

It's well past midnight, and everyone in the caravan was finding it difficult to fall asleep following the events of the past day. Well, except Shorty, of course. He was fast asleep and snoring so loud that it seemed intentional. To escape the worst of the sound, the rest of them perched on the roof of the caravan and watched at they rolled through the wooded scenery. Most of the day's ride had been in relative silence, with only the occasional burst of small talk among them. Everyone still seemed to be processing their own adventures.

The caravan continued along its path, and Cass once again found herself lost in her thoughts. Most of the day she had been able to distract herself with tasks around the caravan and continuing to retrain her arm, but now she couldn't seem to stop thinking about what she had seen behind the door. Her childhood trauma was laid bare before her, and now those memories could never be buried again. 

Before she could fall farther down the rabbit hole, she was thankfully interrupted by the rest of the crew finally deciding to discuss the events of the past few days.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I have nightmare fuel to last me a _lifetime_ after that freaky house. I'm going to have bags under my eyes for _weeks_." Eugene said, examining his face in a handheld mirror in horror.

Rapunzel laughed nervously. "Nightmare fuel is right, Eugene. This entire trip I never thought once about Zhan Tiri, and I never imagined that we would run into another one of his disciples."

"Hold up, did you just say Zhan Tiri?" Cassandra asked. That was news to her. She had been so caught up in her own experiences that it stupidly never occurred to her to ask Rapunzel where she had disappeared to in the first place.

Rapunzel and Eugene filled her in on what had went down on their end. Rapunzel explained how Matthews had put her under a spell and she was trapped in a utopia as the sundrop's power was drained from her. Everyone felt unsettled as Eugene explained how he planned to use its powers to revive Zhan Tiri, and bring him back from whatever realm he was trapped in.

“So, Matthews was a disciple of Zhan Tiri, huh? That explains why that house was just the worst.” Cass summarized. She looked over at Rapunzel who looked troubled, and in response she reached out and lightly grasped her hand. As Rapunzel looked up at her, she gave a soft smile. "I'm just glad you're okay, Raps."

"Thanks, Cass," she said with a bright smile that likely would have knocked Cassandra off her feet if she were standing.

Unfortunately, her feelings took a sharp turn when Eugene decided to turn the tables on the conversation. "Well, enough about us and our terrible, no-good experience in that horrible shell. Where did you come from when you walked out of that door?"

Cassandra's expression soured. "I don't want to talk about it."

Eugene sat up straighter as he responded with a sarcastic laugh and a pointed look. "Oh I see, so it's important that the rest of us have to share our traumatic adventures with _you_ , but when we ask you to share your traumatic experience with _us_ it's 'oh sorry, no can do'."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that the House hurt your hearing as well as your gigantic ego. Let me repeat myself, then; I don't want to talk about it." Cassandra said harshly, bristling at his accusatory tone.

"My ego is doing just fine, _Cassandra_ , thank you very much. Clearly the House did nothing to chip away at the ice in your cold, dead heart."

"Eugene, let it go." Rapunzel told him softly before turning back to her friend. "And Cass, I understand you don't want to talk about it, but if you ever do, just know that I'm here whenever you need me."

This turn in conversation made Cass feel incredibly uncomfortable. She had to get out of here immediately.

"I'm gonna call it a night. Goodnight Raps. Lance. Fitzherbert."

"Oh, okay," Rapunzel said hesitantly, clearly wondering if she should press the issue. "Goodnight Cass!"

And with that, Cassandra climbed down back inside. She took off her armor before climbing into her bunk, wrapping her pillow around her ears to block out the worst of Shorty's snoring and the mumbled sound of the conversation on the roof of the caravan.

Now that she was alone, she could finally breathe and process her thoughts. Even the thought of sharing her little journey to the past with the others raised a sense of panic within her. There were very few things that Cassandra feared more than making herself vulnerable, putting her emotions on the line where they could be shattered by those she cares about most. She was still grappling with processing her own thoughts and emotions on the matter, how could she look Rapunzel (or Eugene, for that matter) in the eye and tell her that she is Gothel's biological daughter? That she had abandoned her own child in exchange for kidnapping Rapunzel? Cassandra firmly believed that her friends already didn't trust in her judgement and abilities, so she feared that the distrust would only grow should they learn of her parentage. Even after all of this time, Cassandra was still desperate to prove herself, and she couldn't let anything jeopardize that.

_"You've always been outshined by Rapunzel, haven't you?"_

The words spoken by that strange, ghostly girl echoed in her head again. Cassandra was still skeptical of her "friend's" intentions, but she couldn't deny the fact that she did feel lost in Rapunzel's shadow. Throughout her life, Cassandra was filled with ambition; she wanted to be a warrior, a protector. She worked hard to become the best of the best, honing her skills and her drive so that she could prove to herself and the world that she is a force to be reckoned with. Yet despite all of her efforts over the years, she was assigned to be Rapunzel's lady-in-waiting in lieu of becoming a member of the royal guard. That had stung, but she had become friends with Rapunzel because of her assignment, so it was worth it. Rapunzel had seen the value in her even when no one else did, had valued Cassandra's inputs and advice on situations, and that was enough.

But something changed during this year on the caravan, and Rapunzel slowly stopped trusting Cassandra's judgement on matters. She became less of a friend, and more of a boss. The princess had begun to value Adira's opinions more than her own, to the point where she had commanded Cassandra to stand down. That had stung. In fact, Rapunzel seemed to have stopped valuing her entirely, refusing to listen to anything Cassandra has to say and actively telling her that she didn't want her protection. That hurt her deeply; Cassandra's entire purpose of joining Raps on this journey was to keep her safe. The king made her promise to keep his daughter safe on this journey, and it was not a promise that Cass took lightly. After nearly sending her to a convent, the king was now tasking her with the duty of protecting his only child on a perilous journey, a job that only the most capable person could be trusted with. She was honored to do so, especially because Rapunzel is the most important person in her life. This journey was a way to prove herself capable not only to her friends, but to her kingdom. If she could be trusted with the caravan's protection, she could be trusted with a permanent position on the royal guard. That is what she had worked so hard to be her entire life; a warrior, a guard, a protector. That was her identity. In those moments where Rapunzel would overlook Cassandra's warnings and tell her she didn't want Cass to protect her, she might as well have told her that she was useless. At every twist and turn she was reminded that people often saw her not as the strong and capable warrior she knew she was, but rather only as a lady-in-waiting, a servant destined to live her life in the wings. She never thought Rapunzel would be one of those people.

So yes, she had always felt outshined by Rapunzel. How could she not, when Rapunzel shone so brightly, and Cassandra had always been overlooked so unfairly? She was the Lost Princess of Corona, the Sundrop, and everything always went so well for her. Cassandra fought tooth and nail for everything she had accomplished, but it didn't matter because apparently, _she_ didn't matter. She was Rapunzel's lady-in-waiting, and nothing more.

With all of this in mind, she thought about the ghost girl's proposed solution to her problem; taking the moonstone. Cassandra decided to entertain the thought, in spite of her better judgement. 

What if she did decide to take the moonstone? The thought made her heart race. There was no reason the moonstone couldn't be her destiny. It would give her the opportunity to step out from under Rapunzel's shadow, to forge her own path and claim her agency. She smiled at the thought.

Her smile faded as she remembered another comment the ghost girl had made, a more serious reason why Cassandra would actively consider taking the moonstone from under Rapunzel's nose. 

_"You have already been burned by Rapunzel, so to speak. And, I'm afraid, if you wait much longer, you may run out of time."_

The ghost girl's words continued to chill her to her core. She held up her arm and removed her glove to reveal blackened skin, where the decay in her arm had not given way to any kind of recovery. 

She felt a number of emotions as she observed her blackened hand, but there were two that stood out.

The first, and more familiar emotion, was anger. Rapunzel had done this to her. Did she mean to her injure her arm through her reckless use of the decay incantation? No; that part wasn't intentional. What _was_ intentional was her decision to ignore Cassandra, who pleaded with her to at least give her a chance to subdue the tree with the spear, in favor of recklessly using the decay incantation. In refusing to listen to Cassandra and trusting her ability to fix the situation, she had nearly gotten both of them killed. Rapunzel had walked away from the dangerous situation unscathed once again, counting it as another win in her book. Too bad it came at the cost of Cassandra emerging from the same situation with a hand infected with rot, the direct consequence of Rapunzel's actions. Naturally, Cassandra continued to seethe in anger over this, especially when Rapunzel continued to defend her decision.

The second, and newer feeling, was fear. Up until now she thought the injury was just that; a simple injury. It was painful and incredibly inconvenient, but she could learn to live with that. It was now evident that this was no longer the case. Immediately following their departure from the ruins of the Great Tree, the decay had reached as far up as the halfway point of her forearm. Now, the blackened skin reached up the entire length of her forearm. It had been growing over the past few weeks, creeping ever so slightly up toward her elbow to the point where she could no longer deny its growth. She cringed at the thought of what could happen if the rot grew past her arm. 

Maybe the moonstone would give her a chance to stop the rot in its tracks. Perhaps it would even reverse it.

Exhausted from the mental strain of it all, Cassandra gave up reflecting on the moonstone and let sleep take her.

* * *

The next morning Cassandra awoke with a newfound energy. She found herself in better spirits now that she was well rested, and jumped into her activities for the day. Most of the team seemed to be in a better mood today as well, with the exception of Eugene who was obsessively poring over the details on the pieces of the scroll with a stressed expression on his face.

"Just another day's travel and we are at the Dark Kingdom! I hope we packed our torches."

Cassandra and Lance stared blankly at Rapunzel, refusing to humor her terrible pun with a laugh.

"Because the kingdom is dark, is where I was going with that."

Noticing that her boyfriend seemed out of it, Rapunzel went to go talk with Eugene as Cassandra and Lance rationed out their food for the day. Noticing the food stockpile was becoming quite low again, Cassandra decided to venture out into the forest to forage some berries or whatever else she could find. Rapunzel declared that she was taking Eugene out for his "birthday celebration", so Cassandra would have plenty of time to make sure they had more than enough food to last them the rest of the journey. She made a mental note to hide some of the food in case Shorty or Lance decided to indulge in an unexpected midnight snack. _Again_. Leaving Lance to keep an eye on the caravan, Cass headed out into the forest with Owl.

After a couple hours of exploring the woods, she was glad that Rapunzel had decided to take a day trip. Finding berries was proving to be a challenge, and it took a long time before she encountered anything she recognized as edible. She finally came across a cluster of bushes, and triumphantly started shoving berries into the container she had brought along with her.

When Cass was halfway done clearing the bushes, she was caught off guard by the sound of someone calling her name. She quickly drew her sword and whipped around, and was startled to see the little blue ghost girl from the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped. "I would have thought you collapsed with the rest of the House."

The girl responded with a chiding laugh. "Not quite. As you can see, I am not of this world." To emphasize her point, she phased her hand right through Cassandra's sword, causing her to flinch. As she retracted her hand, she added, "Well, for the moment, at least." 

That was ominous.

"What is that supposed to mean? Where are you now then, on Mars?" Cassandra mocked. 

"Mars would be preferable to where I am now," the ghost girl said simply, silencing Cass. "But enough about me. I have come to check on you and see how you are faring."

"Why, because you're my friend?"

"Precisely," she responded, electing to ignore Cassandra's sarcastic tone. "You experienced much in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, and processing feelings of that magnitude is a heavy task."

"Consider those feelings processed."

The girl quirked an eyebrow, looking amused. "So then are you prepared to claim your destiny?"

"We talked about this, already. The moonstone is Rapunzel's destiny, not mine." The words sounded unconvincing even to her own ears.

"You say those words, but you do not believe in them."

Cassandra felt frustration bubble up in her again. "You know what? Maybe I don't believe that, but that doesn't matter. I won't betray Rapunzel."

"My dear, that is a noble sentiment to have about someone who has so little regard for you. Noble, but foolish."

"Even still, this fool won't turn her back on her friend."

"Who are you trying to convince, my dear? Me, or yourself?" Cassandra flinched at the question. "Taking the moonstone has very little to do with Rapunzel, and everything to do with you, Cassandra. The moonstone is rightfully yours. Perhaps you do not understand that now, but as you approach the Dark Kingdom and see the moonstone for yourself it will become clear to you."

"We'll see about that," Cassandra responded plainly.

"This is your decision to make, Cassandra," the girl said softly. "You may not know what path you will choose to take at the moment, but as your friend I trust your judgement. Just remember to make this decision for yourself."

And with those parting words the ghost girl vanished, leaving Cassandra alone with her basket of berries. She continued with her task, deeply unsettled by the encounter that had just taken place. She tried to process the situation with logic in an attempt to figure out what was really going on.

Her new friend, as she liked to call herself, was incredibly strange. First of all, she was not your average little girl. She was a transparent blue color and possessed an incorporeal form that suggested that she was...well, a ghost. There was also the strange comments she had made about how technically she didn't exist in this world, which left her wondering where she actually existed. Cassandra also had difficultly believing that she was as young as she appeared to be, as the manner in which she spoke and dressed struck her as ancient. The girl also seemed to possess an almost limitless amount of knowledge. She knew a lot, not just about Cassandra and her past, but also about the mythology of the sundrop and the moonstone. Not to mention the important fact that she first encountered this strange girl in the horror show that was the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, the home to one of the frightening disciples of Zhan Tiri. She had first called out Cassandra's name shortly after Rapunzel had been taken by Matthews in an attempt to use her hair to free his master-

The puzzle pieces in her mind clicked, and the basket of berries tumbled from her hands.

_Oh._

_Oh no._

The identity of her "friend" was clear to her now. It looks like in his attempt to revive his master, Matthews had partially succeeded. His work left Zhan Tiri with enough of a foothold in this world to take on an intangible form. There was little Zhan Tiri could do physically in this world...which is why she needed someone to to do those things for her. For example, taking the moonstone in an attempt to stop the Princess of Corona from achieving her destiny.

Knowing what she knew now, Cassandra became firm in her decision to leave the moonstone alone. She would never play into Zhan Tiri's plan. She couldn't believe that she had even considered it in the first place, but Zhan Tiri appeared to be a master manipulator.

This had gone too far. She needed to tell Rapunzel-

-who was still out gallivanting with Eugene for the day. Cassandra sighed in frustration. She would have to wait for her friend to return from her adventure before she could say anything about her encounters with the ancient warlock. In the meantime, she picked her basket up off the ground and continued with the task she had set out to do.

* * *

After almost the entire day had gone past, Rapunzel and Eugene had returned to the camp. Rapunzel excitedly filled them in on their adventures of the day, sharing all she had learned about Demanitus and the sundrop and the moonstone.

As Rapunzel and Pascal poked fun at Eugene and his expressions of terror during their adventures of the day, Cassandra found herself smiling and laughing along with the tale. She looked over to the side where Eugene was standing under a tree and made eye contact with him. The uncomfortable look on his face made her smile grow, and she turned back to listen to the conclusion of Rapunzel's story. Come to think of it, it was a little strange that Eugene hadn't joined the rest of them by the campfire, but she didn't care enough to press the issue.

Once the good-natured story-telling had died down for the night, Cassandra's mood turned somber. Now was her chance to talk to Rapunzel about how Zhan Tiri was appearing to her.

"Rapunzel, we need to talk," Cass said seriously as she led her best friend away from the campfire.

"Okay." Rapunzel said in confusion as she followed Cassandra to a nearby tree. "What about?"

Cass steeled herself. "It's about what we saw at the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, I-"

"Oh!" Rapunzel exclaimed gleefully, "Are you ready to talk about what you saw?"

"What? No." Cassandra snapped, caught off guard. Then she thought about it. "Wait actually, kind of."

"Lay it on me, I'm all ears," Rapunzel said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, um, great. So when we were looking for you in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, I split up from Lance and Eugene so we could cover more ground. When I was walking through one of the halls, there was this weird door that opened up, and there was this bright white light coming out of it and there was someone calling my name, so, you know, I walked right through it." Cassandra winced as she realized she was rambling. "Well, uh, turns out there was this little ghost girl that was there in the woods, and said she was my friend, and she, um, showed me things about, you know, stuff-"

_Holy word vomit._

"You know what? Forget all of that, I'm just gonna cut to the chase. I think I met Zhan Tiri in those woods, and she has been following us since then. Zhan Tiri does not want you to have the moonstone."

"Wait, is that all you wanted to talk about? That Zhan Tiri is after me, and doesn't want me to fulfill my destiny?" Rapunzel asked with a laugh, flooring Cassandra. "Cass, that isn't news."

"Rapunzel, you're not listening to me."

"Yes I am," she countered. "We've been through this twice now with Zhan Tiri's disciples, and we've handled it. Zhan Tiri is still stuck in whatever prison he's in, right? So, the problem is solved for now."

"You're joking, right? Please tell me you're not serious right now, Rapunzel."

_How is she so cavalier about all of this?_ Cassandra thought to herself. Surely she couldn't be _that_ naive.

"Cassandra, I understand that you want to make sure we stay safe, but we've got it covered. We're so close to the Dark Kingdom now, and I'm not gonna let Zhan Tiri of all people stop me from following my destiny."

"Why aren't you taking this seriously?" Cassandra snapped, heated. "Zhan Tiri is ancient and cunning and a real threat, Rapunzel, we need to do something to stop-"

"Enough about Zhan Tiri, I already told you that we'll deal with him when the time comes," Rapunzel said confidently, a cocky grin coloring her features. "Now, what were you saying about where you were in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow?"

_When did you stop trusting my judgement?_

That was what she wanted to ask her once again, but Cassandra wasn't one to repeat herself. She was too proud. And even if she did say it, it would fall on deaf ears because evidently, her best friend doesn't listen to her anymore.

"You know what Raps? Forget I said anything. Goodnight."

She took off before Rapunzel had a chance to respond, leaving everyone else at the campfire.

Once she collapsed into her bed in the caravan, she screamed into her pillow.

Fine then. She would handle Zhan Tiri herself.


	3. Arrival at the Dark Kingdom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for all of the positive feedback!! I'm glad that you all seem to be enjoying the story. I'm hoping that I can update this story at least once a week, but I've been getting hammered by assignments. Once this semester is over the first week in May, updates will definitely be more frequent. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Finally. After almost an entire year of travelling, they had arrived at the Dark Kingdom.

Cassandra had stepped out of the caravan alongside Rapunzel to take in the sight before them. The road they had been travelling on had cut off abruptly at the edge of a cliff where they now all stood. At the bottom of the cliff was a small stretch of woods that led into a long, winding black stone path. This was all that stood between them and the Dark Kingdom in the distance, looking just as ominous and uninviting as its name suggested. The sight of the gothic castle with its large spiked fan of rocks sent a shiver down her spine. She couldn't believe that after all of this time, they had finally made it here.

"We made it. The Dark Kingdom," Rapunzel said in awe.

"Yeah, we just need a way to get the ol' camper down there," Eugene pointed out with a grin.

As if on cue, the caravan took this opportunity to roll backwards and promptly fall down another nearby cliff. They all watched in horror as it fell and promptly shattered into pieces at the bottom...again. Typical. Looks like they were making the rest of the journey on foot.

Now left with no possible way to turn back, they looked forward in the direction of their final destination. Rapunzel stared out into the distance, looking uncertain.

"Your destiny awaits, princess," Cass said with a smile, looking to reassure her friend.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Eugene asked uncertainly.

"I just wish I knew what _this_ is," Rapunzel confessed in frustration. "Demanitus said if I don't grab the moonstone, the black rocks will destroy everything, but I have no idea what to expect to happen to me when I do."

It was a fair concern. Cassandra walked up beside her friend and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, as Eugene mirrored her action. "I don't know, but whatever happens, you won't be facing it alone." As promised, Cassandra would stay by her side the entire time and see this journey through to the end with her. For the time being, she cast all of her thoughts on Zhan Tiri away. If they were going to make it to the end of this journey in one piece, Cassandra had to be mentally present to support her friends. She would revisit her own personal issues and the more pressing issue of Zhan Tiri once this was over.

Rapunzel finally relaxed and smiled warmly at her boyfriend and best friend. With newfound confidence they moved forward, not knowing what to expect but knowing they could handle anything as long as they had each other by their side.

In their excitement to finally be in the midst of the Dark Kingdom, it didn't occur to Cassandra (or any of the group, really) that some obstacles would still remain between them and their entry into the kingdom. The difficult part was supposed to be reaching the moonstone once they were _inside_ of the kingdom. And yet here they were, having just fought off an entire flock of ravens even before they were out of the woods. As if the birds weren't enough, they were now presented with the challenge of crossing a massive, impossibly deep chasm with no clear way across. Their visit to the Dark Kingdom was off to a great start!

"Anybody have any idea how to get across this thing?" Eugene asked seriously, and was met by silence from the group. "Fantastic, it looks like we're stuck here until one of us is struck by a great idea for how to cross this literal pit of despair."

"While you guys think of a plan, Pascal and I will walk around and do some scouting, see if we can find anything," Rapunzel declared cheerfully. Before anyone could protest she cried, "C'mon Pascal!" before marching in the opposite direction with the chameleon.

Cassandra groaned and sat down on one of the rocks, scanning the area. This was going to be a while.

After staring out at the seemingly endless ravine for a few moments, she turned her attention back to her team. Fidella and Max were standing around looking bored, while Lance was keeping a watchful eye on Shorty before he could wander off somewhere and get himself killed. She then looked towards Eugene, who was eyeing her down with a concerned expression from the rock next to her. Her eyes narrowed.

"What, do I have something in my teeth?" she asked sarcastically.

"Nope, your fangs are as sharp and pointy as ever," he responded without missing a beat. His expression then grew serious as he considered what he wanted to say next. "But hey Cass, can I ask you something on a more serious note?"

Cass looked at him confused, wondering what he could possibly ask her that he considered serious. "Sure."

"Look, I know you're a private person and like to play things close to your chest, and quite frankly, I get that. It's hard to open up on difficult topics when you've spent so many years keeping those thoughts to yourself."

"Get to the point, Eugene."

He sighed wearily. "The point, Cassandra, is that for whatever reason you don't want to talk about where you went while we were at the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, and I understand that you probably have a valid reason, and I wanted to let you know that I respect that. However, you and I both know that you haven't been acting the same since we left that horrible place."

"I'm sorry, was there a question somewhere in there?"

"I'm not going to ask where you went. What I do want to know, however, is that if you saw something that could potentially come back and bite all of us in the butt, we can trust you to tell us, right?"

Cassandra laughed harshly at the question. "Do you really trust me that little, Fitzherbert? I've had your backs this entire journey, and if there was _anything_ I thought was a threat to Raps, of course I would say something." And she actually did say something about her experience with Zhan Tiri, to Rapunzel at least. Not that it mattered now; she could say anything she liked, but she could not make Rapunzel listen to her. And once again, that was an issue that she would revisit later. Now was not the time.

Eugene seemed to relax slightly at her answer. "That's true, you have had our backs so far."

_So far? What was_ that _supposed to mean?_ Cassandra thought to herself. The two of them have always had an antagonistic relationship based on bickering, but she always thought they shared a sense of mutual respect. Did he actually think so little of her?

"You know what? I'm glad we had this chat. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go be untrustworthy somewhere else," Cass said with false sweetness, storming away from Eugene before he could say anything else.

As Cass paced angrily back and forth, she was interrupted by Raps announcing that she had found a way across. She perked up and looked in the direction Rapunzel was pointing in, thrilled to finally continue with the journey. That excitement quickly turned to horror when she saw what Rapunzel was referring to. There was a cable that connected the two ends of the ravine with an old gondola suspended on the middle of the line. Evidently, it was incredibly old as a piece just broke off of it before their own eyes.

Why did she expect anything else? Nothing on this journey has been easy and Rapunzel clearly did not have a healthy sense of self-preservation, why would that change now?

Eugene and Lance clearly shared her thoughts. By the time Eugene stepped up to talk Rapunzel down from the idea, Cass knew what she had to do.

"I can get it." she said confidently, analyzing the situation. The gondola was a good fifty yards out, but that didn't matter. Cassandra had excellent balance, and had walked longer distances on rope that was not nearly as thick as the cable. "I'll get across, then wheel it back here for the rest of you."

"Um, I don't know Cass." She thought she heard distrust in her voice, and when she turned around her expression confirmed it. Cassandra's face fell; she had expected protest, but not like this. Eugene doubting her wasn't entirely unexpected, but had Rapunzel lost faith in her too?

"Trust me. I can do it," Cass insisted.

"Of course, I trust you-"

_You don't trust me?_

"Um, we trust you-"

_What have I done to make you doubt me like this?_

"But your hand-"

_My_ hand _? Unbelievable._

"Even with my hand, I'm still the most agile of all of us," Cassandra countered.

She watched her expression change, until it settled into a familiar smile. Eugene's expression remained distrustful, which only fueled Cassandra's bitterness.

Since no one cared to comment farther, she turned and did her job.

In what she considered to be an incredible feat of bravery and agility, Cassandra successfully managed to reach the gondola and bring it back to the edge of the chasm. She allowed herself a smug smile, proud to have proven Eugene and Rapunzel wrong. She knew she was capable, and hopefully now they would finally realize that too.

As she stopped the car at the end of the line, she waited for the rest of her party to board. When they didn't walk in immediately, she looked out the window to see them standing around with stupid smiles on their faces. She hated how surprised they looked. Cass walked over to the other end of the gondola and opened the door.

"Um, did you want me to get the door for you too?" she snarked as they finally started to approach the rickety death trap. Rapunzel walked up and pulled her into a hug, and Cass allowed herself a smile. Maybe this was her moment, after all. Maybe she was done waiting for her friends to recognize her accomplishments, and the doubt they currently hold would change to faith and recognition. Even though she would not be taking the Moonstone today, Cassandra was certain that her destiny awaited her in the Dark Kingdom.

Now aboard the gondola, Lance and Cass were tasked with cranking the lever. They were moving at a comfortable pace, and the two of them worked in comfortable silence.

"That was pretty brave what you did back there," Lance remarked, a genuine smile on his face. "I was gonna do it before you volunteered, but..."

"Thanks Lance," she responded in kind with a smile. "All in the name of fulfilling destiny."

Lance gave her a quizzical look. "You really buy all of this destiny stuff?"

"I believe everybody's got a destiny." And she meant it. Just as Rapunzel was so certain that taking the Moonstone was her destiny, Cassandra was every bit as confident that protecting the princess and the entire kingdom of Corona was hers. Of course she had been questioning herself at moments along the journey, especially during those times when her friends doubted her ability and ambitions when she had put everything aside to help them reach their goals. In those moments of doubt Cassandra would remind herself to wait for her moment, that one day her destiny would come and everything would change.

How she hated waiting. It is all she has ever done, and all she continues to do. The memories of her younger self that had resurfaced in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow had rubbed salt in the wound, and she was anxious for her moment to come, for something to change. She was hopeful that this change would come at the end of this journey. Cass was prepared to do anything to protect Rapunzel, and she would risk herself in a heartbeat if it meant she had the chance to save the day and rescue her friends. She let herself imagine scenarios in which at the end of this road she battled dangerous foes and completed impossible tasks. She would prove herself and save the day, and her friends would finally value her. Cassandra imagined Rapunzel taking the stone and finally putting an end to these black rocks. Maybe somehow touching the Moonstone would return the healing powers of the Sundrop, and Rapunzel would softly touch her hand and heal the injury that she had caused.

Her daydreaming was interrupted by a sudden thud on the roof of the gondola.

_Well that certainly isn't good news_ , Cassandra thought to herself. Her theory was confirmed when an ax came crashing through the aforementioned roof.

"Can we just go one place without some weirdo _jumping out of nowhere_?!" Eugene shrieked before the team jumped into action. Cass and Lance continued to crank the gondola forward, speeding up their efforts so they could get across the chasm before the assailant could do any catastrophic damage to the already dilapidated gondola. Rapunzel and Eugene hopped onto the roof to fight the bear-masked warrior. The gondola shook frightfully as they battled, and the duo cranking the gondola flinched when they heard the sound of the ax striking the cable.

When Cassandra thought things couldn't get any worse, Adira somehow magically entered the picture.

_Fantastic_ , she thought sarcastically.

"Where did she come from?" she spat, eyeing the egotistical white-haired woman in disdain as she casually waved at her and Lance. This woman was the bane of her existence.

"Like an angel, she fell from heaven." The hearts in Lance's eyes made her feel sick.

"And now Adira is here, because why wouldn't she be?" Eugene shouted, echoing Cassandra's thoughts.

It was all happening so quickly. As the gondola neared the opposite side of the chasm, Adria sprung into action against the ax-wielder as Eugene and Rapunzel stood down, watching silently. They were all surprised to see that the warrior was on equal footing with Adira, if not even better. First the team watched in shock as Adira's shadowblade tumbled over the edge and fell into pit below, and in the next moment Adira herself was falling with it.

"No!" Lance cried out in horror as they watched Adira plummet into the seemingly bottomless cavern, falling until she was out of their sight.

They had no more time to process what had just happened, because Bear Mask decided to cut one of the wooden supports with his ax, causing the gondola to tilt vertically. Rapunzel didn't hesitate, grabbing Eugene and throwing her hair around the cable to prevent them from falling. Fidella, Max, and Shorty pressed themselves up against the walls as Lance latched onto the crank, Cassandra holding onto him for dear life. Rapunzel helped to pull all of them out of the gondola, which was now holding on by a thread. Eugene stepped forward towards the knight, who continued to climb upwards with his ax.

"Rapunzel, you and the others go. I'll hold off Mr. Personality."

"But-"

"I said go! Now!"

Everyone evacuated the gondola at Eugene's command, save for Rapunzel and Cassandra who hesitated at the thought of leaving him behind. Cass made brief eye contact with Eugene before he turned to battle "Mr. Personality" as he called him, and she knew what she had to do.

She grabbed Rapunzel's hand and started running toward stable ground.

"Cassandra, wait!" Rapunzel protested, pulling Cass back in her direction.

She paused for a moment as they watched Eugene fall flat on his back on the gondola, Bear Mask standing above him with his ax drawn, hesitating.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel cried out. Noticing that the cable was about to snap, Cassandra picked up Rapunzel and tossed the princess over her shoulder as she sprinted for the cliff. She felt the gondola start to fall beneath her feet, and she leapt just in time to save them from falling with it.

"No!" Rapunzel cried out, as the team watched in horror as Eugene fell into the chasm with the bear-masked assailant. They couldn't see where the gondola had crashed, but they heard it break as it hit the bottom. All they could do now was hope that somehow Eugene managed to survive it.

Rapunzel was kneeling on the ground, looking down into the chasm in despair. Cassandra was bent down beside her, trying to find the words to help her feel better despite feeling upset herself.

"I'm-I'm so sorry Raps," Cass said sadly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. That was all she could think of to say. What else was there to say at a time like this?

"This is not how our story ends," Rapunzel snapped, shrugging off Cassandra's hand and rising from the ground. The princess looked back at her group of friends with fire in her eyes. "We're going back to get him."

"No need, he's fine," a new voice cut in. Cassandra felt a cold rage when she recognized Adira's voice, cool and nonchalant. Her assurance that Eugene was safe provided some amount of comfort, but that dwarfed next to the unbelievable anger she felt at Adira's chill demeanor. How could this woman be so casual about all of this? They were just attacked out of nowhere by a dangerous enemy, and they had all nearly lost their lives in the process. Yet here was Adira, acting like nothing had happened.

"He made it safely into the cave below, I saw it," Adira continued impatiently. "Now, come. Fishskin didn't risk his life so that we could waste time looking for him."

She saw Raps fling her hair at Adira as the older woman sauntered forward, and Cassandra's heart swelled with pride.

"Just a minute, Adira. You knew that knight back there. In fact, I'd bet you know a lot of things you're not telling us. We're not going another step until you start giving us answers," Rapunzel demanded.

Adira relented, and finally shared with them the story of the Moonstone. She told them of its origins, of how a single drop of moonlight fell from the sky and formed an opal that contained unimaginable power. She spoke of the opal's defenses, and how the kingdom they now stood in formed from them. The kingdom existed to protect the Moonstone, and the line of Dark Kings made it their mission to protect the world from the opal's dark power. The most recent of the Dark Kings is King Edmund, who was the knight that had attacked them on the gondola. She shared stories of how the stone would destroy anyone who sought to possess it.

"I refused to believe that such darkness could exist without a light of equal power somewhere in this world. As usual, I was right. After years of searching, I found the Sundrop. Only you, Rapunzel, can restore balance to all things," Adira concluded.

"If you've known this all along, why have you been so cryptic?" Rapunzel asked seriously. Adira hesitated, which caused Cassandra's eyes to narrow in distrust.

"While I'm certain bringing the Sundrop to the Moonstone will neutralize its threat, I'm not sure what will happen to you."

Cassandra's breath hitched as panic filled her. "You mean if Rapunzel touches the Moonstone, she could-"

She was cut off by Rapunzel softly placing her hand on her shoulder.

"I did not come this far to stop now." Rapunzel told her confidently.

_How can you be so naive?_ she wanted to scream at her. _How can you have so little regard for your own life?_

She could scream at Rapunzel until her voice gave out, and she still wouldn't listen to her.

She didn’t understand what would happen if she never returned from this journey. What it would do to her parents, her friends, to Cassandra. She had sworn to protect her, and if she were to return without her....she didn’t even want to think what kind of position she would be put in. The king would never forgive her. Cassandra would never forgive _herself_.

Instead of screaming and begging and pleading with the blonde, she simply looked down at the ground. In that instant her decision was cemented; she would take the Moonstone out from under Rapunzel, Zhan Tiri be damned. No matter how furious she was with Rapunzel, she was her best (and really only) friend and it was her sworn duty to protect her, whether or not Raps wanted that protection or not.

"Good. Are we all friends again?" Adira asked impatinetly.

"Sure!" Rapunzel said with a smile, following the white-haired woman's lead.

"We never were," Cass said darkly. In fact, she hated Adira more than ever now. She had known how destructive the stone was this entire time, and she willingly led Rapunzel here without breathing a word of the danger it posed to her.

* * *

They had made it further into the Dark Kingdom, and found the entrance into the castle. Adira said that the throne room, which was on the other side of the wooden door before them, was connected to the Moonstone's chamber. They started to wheel open the door and was surprised to see Eugene standing on the other side of it. Rapunzel was thrilled to see him, but Cassandra was bothered by the forlorn, conflicted expression on his face.

"Eugene! Thank goodness you're okay. I was so-" She finally seemed to catch on that something was off. "Eugene, what is it?"

"I'm sorry Rapunzel, but I won't let you in," Eugene said sadly. Before Rapunzel could react they heard the sound of metal cutting metal, and the chain they were using to open the door had gone slack as the door slammed shut.

Rapunzel ran up to the door and started to bang on it, screaming and pleading with Eugene to let her in. Cass was surprised that Eugene had blocked them from entering, but she suspected that he had good reason to. He probably had learned about the threat the Moonstone posed to Rapunzel, and Cass understood. He wanted to keep Rapunzel safe just as much as she wanted to. Cass couldn't fault him for that.

Rapunzel was heartbroken by the betrayal, tears streaming down her face as she looked at the door.

"Princess, I've known Eugene my entire life, and he has never, and I mean never, loved anyone as much as he loves you."

"Yeah, Raps. Whatever he thinks he's doing, he must be doing it for you."

"You guys are probably right, but I need to hear it from him." She looked down at the ground with uncertainty. "Eugene...turned against me. I didn't think Demanitus would be right this time. Or at least, I hoped he wouldn't be," Rapunzel said in anguish.

"I'm confused," Cass said, trying to process what she had said. "What was Demanitus right about?"

Rapunzel looked over at Cass and gave her a sorrowful look. "Demanitus had given Eugene a piece of paper with a warning written on it. He said that at the end of our journey, one of our party would turn against me."

"Why is this the first I'm hearing about this?" Cassandra asked. The guilty look on Rapunzel's face said it all. That explained their distrustful behavior earlier in the day. "Oh."

"Cass, I'm sorry-"

"You know what, Rapunzel? Let's just figure a way out of this. We can talk about this later." And by later, Cassandra meant never.

"Short Hair is right, we have to hurry. The king has my shadowblade, which has the power to cut these rocks. I know exactly what he's going to do with it; destroy the Moonstone."

_Good_ , Cassandra thought. If he destroys it, then she wouldn't have to take it herself. She could spare Rapunzel another betrayal, and she wouldn't have to play into Zhan Tiri's plans for her. In spite of the fact that her "friends" have been expecting Cassandra to betray them this entire time, she didn't want to.

"Pascal, find a way inside, get to Eugene, and don't let him anywhere near that stone. The rest of us need to look for a back entrance or something. This can't be the only way into the castle."

As if in response, Rapunzel's hair started to glow. The black rocks shot out from all directions, destabilizing the ground they stood upon until it opened up beneath them. They reacted quickly, grabbing onto the nearest object as they fell into-

"Great!" Cassandra exclaimed. "A sewer...full of lava." Rapunzel's hand was the only thing holding her up from a fiery death.

Just when Cassandra thought for sure they would all die in here, the rocks continued to respond to Rapunzel's hair, laying a safe, convenient path for them to follow into the castle. Despite the relief she felt that they were all safe, Cassandra couldn't help but feeling a little bitter. With Rapunzel, there was always an easy, convenient resolution to every problem. It wasn’t fair.

They walked along the path of the black rocks, and Cassandra observed them as if seeing them for the first time. Now that she had committed herself to taking the Moonstone (should King Edmund and Eugene not destroy it first), she wondered what wielding its supposedly "dark" power would look like. Would the opal give whoever possessed it complete control over the rocks? If Cassandra were to successfully snatch it before Rapunzel had the chance, what kind of power would it give her? Would it change her? She wondered what she would be like after taking it.

This was all dependent on the fact that she would survive taking the stone, of course. She remembered that small little detail Adira shared; the Moonstone killed anyone who sought to wield it. Would it do the same to her?

She touched her left hand to her right wrist, remembering that it didn't matter anyway whether the Moonstone destroyed her or not. She already was a dead woman walking, doomed to decay slowly. And if it meant that Rapunzel would survive this, that was all that mattered to her.

She looked up ahead at the princess and saw they had reached the entryway to the throne room, with her and Adira scouting the room from their vantage point as everyone else hung back.

For all of her noble intent of protecting Rapunzel and potentially saving herself, Cassandra couldn't deny that she also wanted to take the Moonstone for selfish reasons as well. Zhan Tiri was right about one thing; taking the stone was the perfect opportunity to step out from under Rapunzel's shadow. She wouldn't have to wait for her moment anymore, she could just take it. Cassandra could be the one to stop the black rocks and save the day this time, a thought that was exciting to her. And she wouldn't stop there; with that kind of power she could put an end to Zhan Tiri and save the entire kingdom.

Unfortunately that kind of power comes at a price, and this time the cost was what was left of her team's faith in her.

_They already don't trust me_ , Cassandra reminded herself in an attempt to come to terms with her decision. _Even Rapunzel doesn't believe in me. And look at who my mother is...was. They'll see this as a betrayal, and it won't even come as a surprise._

"The Moonstone chamber is just through those doors," Adira whispered, breaking Cassandra out of her thoughts.

"Okay, I'll need a distraction so I can slip in there," Rapunzel whispered back.

"No way!" Cassandra whispered harshly. "You're not going in alone. Who knows what's in there?"

"Rapunzel should go in alone," Adira snapped, raising her voice. "Only the Sundrop can access the Moonstone's great power."

Cass glared at the woman as Rapunzel seemed to think it over. She was genuinely surprised when Rapunzel decided that Cass should join her in the Moonstone chamber. She told Adira and Lance to stay behind, an arrangement that Lance was ecstatic. In his excitement he nearly knocked over the armor next to him.

They stood in the doorway preparing to make a run for it on Rapunzel's count. Cassandra wasn't remotely surprised when King Edmund turned around and threw his ax in their direction; they were not as stealthy or silent as they thought they were being, but Cassandra was prepared for this. She launched herself at Rapunzel, pulling her out of the way before the ax could hit its target.

Lance and Cassandra charged at King Edmund, but were laid out immediately by the built, experienced warrior. As she recovered from her spot on the floor she analyzed the situation, looking for the king's strengths and weaknesses. Her thoughts were interrupted by Eugene sprinting into the room. He clearly had a change of heart in the short amount of time since they last saw him, as he was now demanding the king to let Rapunzel pass through.

"But the Moonstone must be destroyed, son!" King Edmund cried out.

That snapped Lance and Cassandra out of their stupors.

"Son?" Rapunzel asked, smiling at Eugene.

"Son?" Cassandra echoed.

"You finally got adopted!" Lance cried cheerfully.

_Huh, it looks like I'm not the only one with a complicated family history,_ Cass thought to herself.

Eugene walked up to Edmund and started guiding him in the other direction, and to their surprise he followed without protest. "I'll fill you all in later. Oh and thumbnail, I'm a prince. Probably."

Rapunzel took this opportunity to charge for the Moonstone chamber as Cassandra pulled herself off the ground. She went to go follow her, but they were all taken aback when a blue glow started to permeate the room. Within moments the blue ghosts of King Edmund's ancestors broke free from their statues, a last ditch protective measure for blocking intruders from reaching the opal.

As Cassandra fiercely battled the ghosts alongside her team, she also thought about the course of action she would take once they made it inside the Moonstone chamber. How would she do it? Would she just make a mad dash for it as soon as they entered the chamber, or would she wait a few extra moments and grab it at the last second? What would she even say to Rapunzel after she took it? A simple "sorry Raps" probably wouldn't do much to deescalate the fallout. What would she even do after she took it? Would she explain her reasoning to Rapunzel, despite her friend's track record of not listening to her? Or should she just run away entirely?

In all of the chaos of fighting the blue ghosts, Cassandra almost didn't see her. She froze when she noticed the small, blue figure of the ghost girl standing off to the side of the room. Zhan Tiri smiled sweetly at her and subtly nodded, as if she knew with certainty that Cassandra was going to take the opal. Cass hated that she was right, but in her mind she was left with no other option.

Seeing Zhan Tiri there in their midst, Cassandra knew what she had to do. Not only did she have to take the Moonstone; she also had to keep Zhan Tiri as far away as possible from Rapunzel and Corona. Keeping tabs on the ghost girl and leading her away from Corona was the only way she could guarantee the kingdom's (and Rapunzel's) safety. That meant she had to cut herself off from her kingdom entirely until she could figure out a way to stop Zhan Tiri for good. 

Cass looked over at Rapunzel who continued to fight the blue ghosts with a determined expression on her face, blissfully unaware of the evil that lurked in the shadows. Cassandra's heart hurt when she realized that saying goodbye to her kingdom meant saying goodbye to her best friend. To keep the Moonstone and Zhan Tiri far from Rapunzel, Cassandra had to ensure that they remained far apart from each other. No matter the tensions and hardships they had faced in their relationship over the past couple of years, Cassandra knew that Rapunzel was bound to her the same way she felt bound to the princess. If she had to sever their friendship for Rapunzel's safety, she would have to make the goodbye hurt, make it a painful exit. It was the only way she could think of to prevent the princess from searching for her after she leaves, and the only way to keep Cassandra from crawling back to her so easily.

Cassandra needed to stay lost to protect Rapunzel and stop Zhan Tiri once and for all. _This_ was her destiny.

Her attention was taken away from her thoughts by the crumbling of one of the statues. Lance had taken Adira's shadowblade to the statue, and by destroying the structure, he destroyed its associated ghost.

"Lance, you're a genius, and that's the first and last time I'll ever say that!" Eugene shouted gleefully at his best friend.

Now that they knew what to do, the group jumped into action. They took turns passing along the shadowblade and taking down the statues, until only one remained. To everyone's surprise it was King Edmund who destroyed the last statue. Eugene grinned up at him, thrilled to see his newfound father finally join their side.

In the aftermath of the battle, they moved toward the doors of the Moonstone chamber to clear the debris. Cassandra looked over her shoulder to the side of the room she had seen the ghost girl standing before, only to see that she had vanished entirely.

"It's all up to you now," King Edmund said with a tone of finality. He was assisting the others in holding up the massive stone blocking the entrance to the chamber so that Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra could crawl underneath it.

"No, it's up to us," Rapunzel replied, smiling up at Eugene. And with that, the trio got down on the floor and crawled underneath the giant statue. They emerged on the other side out of breath and were startled by the doors to the chamber slamming shut behind them.

They were here. After an entire year of traveling, they had finally found the Moonstone. Rapunzel smiled, looking out into the cavern. 

"We made it, guys."


	4. Destiny Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for all of the kind comments, they really brighten my day! It's time for the moment we've all been waiting for. This is the last chapter that will closely follow canon, and I can't wait for you all to read all of the interesting events that happen next in the story :)
> 
> Enjoy!

Cassandra’s jaw dropped when she took in the sight in front of them, Eugene’s expression mirroring hers.

The chamber was dark and foreboding like the rest of the kingdom, maybe even more so. The ledge they currently stood on ended abruptly a few meters from them. On the other side of the divide was another platform in the center of the chamber where the Moonstone sat in a cage of its own making, a beautiful blue light pulsating from inside. There was a large cluster of black rocks that supported the platform and provided an ominous background to it. Even all of the walls in the chamber had black rocks protruding from them, most of them aligned to point at the opal.

Without warning Rapunzel's hair started to glow and rise into the air. The black rocks responded by glowing the same luminescent blue color as the Moonstone itself. Any rock that was not already aligned with the center of the chamber started to move, pointing the Sundrop in the direction of the opal in a jaw-dropping magical display.

Rapunzel stepped toward the ledge, watching the scene unfold before them. Once the rocks had stopped glowing, she took a tentative step out over the chasm. She smiled brilliantly as the rocks rose up to meet her feet, building a bridge to guide her to the Moonstone.

Cassandra hung back, watching carefully. She needed to look for an opportunity to reach the opal before Rapunzel did. If she acted too quickly, she risked Eugene and Rapunzel noticing her intentions and holding her back. If she didn't act quickly enough, well...she didn't want to think about that option.

As Rapunzel crossed the bridge, Cassandra turned to look at Eugene. With a subtle nod in his direction the two of them proceeded to follow the princess down the newly constructed path to the Moonstone.

Rapunzel paused a few feet away from the Moonstone, taking a moment to appreciate the sight of it and acknowledge the significance of this moment. With her hair still glowing and flowing above her head, she looked back as Eugene held her hand to smile at Cassandra.

Rapunzel turned around, backtracking a few feet to talk with her best friend.

"Look, I know these last few months haven't been easy for us." Rapunzel started, nervously caressing the back of her neck before reaching out to take Cassandra's hands. She looked up from the ground to stare into Cassandra's eyes as she continued. "I want to thank you for everything." She then jumped forward, pulling Cassandra into a tight hug.

Cass shifted uncomfortably in Rapunzel's embrace, a hurricane of emotions building inside of her. Guilt for what she intended to do to her. Excitement that her wait for her destiny was over. Anger for how she continues to condescend, even in this final moment. Saying that these last few months haven't been easy was a gross understatement, and after everything that had transpired between them, she wasn't quite sure she believed Rapunzel's thank-you. The words felt hollow to her given how the princess has demonstrated time and time again how little faith she had in her. Maybe in some other world, in some other time, she would melt into the hug, grateful to hear those words of gratitude from the person she cares about the most in this world. But today was not that day. She couldn't find it in herself to return the hug, knowing what she was about to do. 

"Okay, Rapunzel. It's time."

Rapunzel turned around and walked forward to grab Eugene's hand.

"This is it, Rapunzel. Now go get your destiny," he said softly, smiling up at his girlfriend.

"I love you," she responded, holding his hand to her face as he kissed her forehead.

Rapunzel continued to more forward as Cass prepared herself to make a run for it. She looked to her side to make sure Eugene wasn't paying attention to her, and was relieved to see that Rapunzel was his sole focus.

They all watched as the cage of rocks began to retract at Rapunzel's approach, and the opal floated into the air above it. It remained there suspended, just waiting to be taken.

_I'm so sorry, Raps, but I can't let you do this_ , Cassandra thought, taking her first step forward.

She was thankful that Rapunzel decided to take her sweet time in reaching for the opal, because it left Cassandra a wide opening to silently and quickly move in beside her.

Rapunzel didn't notice her approach, her attention captured by the opal. Eugene however noticed as Cass blew past him with surprising speed.

"Cassandra, what are you-"

His protest came too late. The second before the Moonstone would have been within Rapunzel's fingertips, Cassandra committed to her decision and snatched the Moonstone.

She had done it. This was the point of no return.

After closing her eyes and steeling her nerves with a deep breath, she turned to look Rapunzel in the eye.

"Cassandra?" Rapunzel cried out, a shocked expression on her face. "What are you doing?"

Eugene was running toward them now, but it didn't matter; it was too late. She could feel the power of the opal pulsing in her hand, begging to be unleashed.

"I'm fulfilling _my_ destiny," she responded darkly.

Betray the princess to protect their kingdom from an ancient evil.

Turn her back on the person she loves most in this world so she can live to fight another day.

_This_ was her destiny.

Everything happens so quickly. A pulse of blue light exploded out from the Moonstone, resulting in Eugene and Rapunzel getting blown back to the entrance of the chamber. Cassandra stood there tightly grasping onto the stone as it shot out powerful bolts of blue and white light, sending shock waves and energy throughout the entire chamber. It was nearly too much for Cassandra to handle, but she had never been one to back down so easily. 

Acting on instinct, Cassandra thrust the stone into her chest. She screamed as the explosive power and energy now turned inward, her nerves endings feeling as if they had been set on fire. She didn't notice the rocks shooting out across the cavern, or the fact that she was now suspended in air. What she did notice was the cool feeling of the black rocks as they encased her skin, providing her with an indestructible body suit of armor. The pain and energy continued to build until a brilliant white light exploded out from the Moonstone on her chest.

And then the pain was gone. All that was left was an unfamiliar feeling of power that coursed through her veins and the sound of deafening silence in the chamber.

Testing her new power she took a step forward, and laughed when she realized just how easily the rocks bent to her will. It had worked. She had actually done it. 

She was a whirlwind of emotions, and she hadn't expected all of them to feel so...amplified. The first thing she felt was relief for having survived taking the Moonstone. The opal seems to have accepted her (so far, at least), and that was more than she could have hoped for. However, she didn't have time to process the implications of the Moonstone not killing her-she had to focus. She needed to get out of here as soon as possible, but she couldn't do that until she burned her bridges.

“I tried to warn you, Rapunzel. You need to be careful who you trust.”

She finally looked up from the ground to take a good look at Rapunzel and Eugene. Cassandra was not surprised to see shock and betrayal in their expressions. What was surprising to her was that they looked _afraid_ of her, as if she was a monster. That stung. Did they really have so little faith in her?

When she thought about it, Cassandra remembered that they had made it crystal clear just how much they believed in her.

_No matter_ , Cassandra thought to herself bitterly. _That will make this easier. They wanted a betrayal? Fine. Here it is._

"Why?" Rapunzel asks, and Cassandra lets herself fly off the handle.

"Because I'm done waiting in the wings, Rapunzel," she started, crackles of lightning erupting from her chest at the sudden flare of rage. "All this time _everything_ has been about you and your destiny, and it was about time I did something for myself. I'm done standing in your shadow."

Rapunzel looked genuinely surprised to see that Cassandra had felt this way. "Cass, what are you talking about? You have _never_ been in my shadow. You are my best friend."

Cassandra laughed in disbelief. "Really Raps? I knew that you're naive, but I never thought you were blind. This entire journey you have cast me aside and overlooked my thoughts and feelings. You have treated me not as your friend, but as your servant and loyal subject. Every single time I have tried to prove myself as someone more than just your lady-in-waiting, you and the others have shut me down. I. Am. _Done_. You have outshined me my entire life. Even my own mother chose you over me." The words spilled out of her, her emotions heightened like they had never been before.

"Your who now?" Eugene asked incredulously. "I'm not sure I follow."

"I never did tell you what I saw in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow," Cass sneered. She launched into the tale of the memories she had encountered behind the door, of the pain and the hurt and the anger she had felt over the discovery of who her mother was and the terrible things she had done. She left out Zhan Tiri's involvement; the warlock was her problem now, not theirs.

Eugene and Rapunzel were quiet, processing the information that Cassandra shared with them.

"You saw all of this in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow?" Rapunzel asked in disbelief.

"I saw _everything_ , Rapunzel."

"Cass, if what you're saying is true, it means-"

"It means that I'm Gothel's daughter, and your destiny belongs to me." Maybe that last part was overkill, but Cassandra always had a flair for the dramatic. She had to oversell this anyway. Black rocks shot around in a ring around her feet in response, and she watched as Eugene protectively pulled Rapunzel back. The princess resisted, taking a step forward in Cassandra's direction.

"Cass, we are friends. In fact, being Gothel's daughter that makes us closer than friends, that makes us sisters!"

Cassandra couldn't help but to laugh again in disbelief. Of all things, that was what Rapunzel had gotten out of her story? _Sisters_. It bothered her that Rapunzel had chosen that word to describe them, but she couldn't find the words to express why.

"Sisters? Again, my own mother chose _you_ over _me_ ," she reminded Rapunzel as she stormed in her direction. "My whole life I've been cast aside for you. No more."

Suddenly the doors to the chamber flew open, interrupting the intense confrontation.

"So, what did we miss?" Lance asked casually as he strode inside along with Max and Adira.

"Lance, not now," Eugene snapped, as the newcomers processed the sight before them. Cass watched as Lance's jaw dropped in horror, but her attention turned back to Rapunzel as the princess continued to plead with her.

"Cassandra, please, let me help you."

"Stay back," Cass commanded, raising the black rocks from the ground to prevent Rapunzel from advancing. She has said enough. She needed to get out of here before the situation could escalate further-

"Cassandra, you've got to give me the moonstone, it is too dangerous. The whole world is at stake."

"I said stay back!" At her words the black rocks shot forward, sending Rapunzel flying backwards onto the ground near Eugene's feet. Cass flinched. She hadn't meant to hurt her.

"Cassandra!" Eugene yelled in anger, his eyes narrowing at her.

She looked at her hands and at the rocks around her. For the first time since infusing herself with the stone's power, she was unsure of herself and the amount of control she possessed over her newfound powers.

Before she could question herself further, her thoughts were interrupted by Adira charging at her, slashing the rocks down with her shadowblade. The white-haired woman pounced without hesitation, bringing the sword down on Cassandra. The younger woman reacted quickly, blocking the blow with rocks she had summoned alongside her new indestructible armor.

"Release the Moonstone, Short Hair," Adira growled. "You don't know what you're dealing with."

"Neither do you," Cass countered, the opal on her chest exploding with a burst of energy that sent Adira flying across the room. She would be lying if she said she found no satisfaction in overpowering Adira. She had been wanting to do that for a long time, and felt giddy that she was capable of it now. Upon looking down Cass noticed that Adira had dropped the shadowblade in the proccess.

Cass picked up the blade to admire it. The stone it was made from started to glow at her touch, and she smiled. She sheathed the shadowblade behind her back, deciding to keep it for herself. It was fitting that a sword made from the black rocks would be her new weapon of choice.

Despite her intentions, this encounter had escalated into a fight quickly. Cass had to get out of here before things could get even worse. She started to run for the exit, but was blocked by none other than Eugene Fitzherbert.

"Oh no you don't!" he shouted, the rage on his face unparalleled to any expression Cassandra had seen on his face before.

"Eugene, no!" Rapunzel cried out.

The rocks were shooting out around in Cassandra's wake as she ran, and she didn't spare a second look when one knocked Eugene off to the side. It didn't matter right now. What mattered was that she had to leave immediately. She had done enough damage already.

"Cassandra, wait!" Rapunzel cried out from behind her. Cassandra only ran faster, sliding as she took quick turns around the corridor.

As she ran, she thinks about what she has done. This was the last time she would see Rapunzel, at least for the foreseeable future. Yes, Rapunzel had hurt her, but that didn't mean Cass stopped caring about her. Now that she had chosen her path, she couldn't help but think of what she was sacrificing to follow it.

"Cass!" Rapunzel cried out again, shaking Cassandra from her thoughts. She thought she was prepared to make a clean break without saying goodbye, but the way her legs stopped in their place suddenly proved contrary to that belief. She paused in the middle of the throne room, waiting for Rapunzel to catch up.

"Cassandra, please, slow down," Rapunzel begged. "Whatever it is that you're going through has to stop. Let's just talk this out and fix whatever _this_ is, just like we've always done."

Cass whirled around. "No! _This_ has to stop Rapunzel, this thing where you think that you've been my friend and don't even hear how you condescend, the way you've _always_ done."

"Listen to me, Cassandra," Rapunzel pleaded. Ironic, given that she _still_ wasn't listening to her.

"I'm listening."

"This can't be what it looks like. Look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel it too."

Cass looked up into Rapunzel's eyes, and there was nowhere for her to hide her conflicting thoughts and emotions.

"Perhaps I do," she responded quietly. She was finding it harder and harder to turn her back on her friend, even though she knew it was the best course of action.

"Cassandra, listen-"

"I'm listening," she repeated.

"I swear it's not too late for us to fix this. So before another line gets crossed, and we lose everything we have...just wait."

"Wait?" Cassandra laughed in disbelief. "Haven't you listened to anything I said? No. I won't wait."

"Cass-" she started again, but was interrupted by the sound of the rest of the party running toward the throne room. That was Cassandra's cue to leave.

"Goodbye, Rapunzel."

Summoning a large cascade of rocks from the ground, she formed a barrier between herself and the rest of her, now former, team. With that wall left to slow them down, Cass fled the castle without casting a single look back. She sprinted through the corridors and out through the door, using the rocks to speed up the rate of her retreat. Cass continued to run alongside the edge of the chasm, only pausing to form a bridge to connect the two sides. She didn't pause to rest until she was on the other side of it, finally feeling as if she had put enough distance between her and the others.

"Cass! Wait!" Seeing Rapunzel on the other end of the chasm, she used her newfound power to destroy the bridge connecting them, which felt poetic considering she was metaphorically burning their bridge as well.

With the bridge shattered, she ran a little farther until she was entirely out of their sight. She hid behind an alcove of the black rocks, and found herself alone with her thoughts for the first time.

In an attempt to ground herself, Cassandra took a deep breath. She had done it. She had taken the Moonstone, survived it, and managed to leave the others behind. With the chaos of the chamber and the chase through the kingdom over, she was just now noticing the absence of throbbing in her arm. Cass laughed once in relief, and focused her power on retracting the rocks from around her arm. The armor, with some reluctance, retreated to reveal the skin of her arm. Upon inspection she realized that the decay was not healed necessarily, but it was petrified as if her skin was made of stone, frozen in time. Experimentally, she touched the skin with her left hand and felt relief when she found it no longer her to the touch. Looks like Zhan Tiri had been right about that part, at least-the Moonstone really had saved her from her injury.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a familiar "hoot". With her concentration broken her armor snapped back into place, leaving her arm protected once again. She looked up and grinned as her longtime friend descended from the sky.

"Owl!" she cried out cheerfully, extending her arm for him to perch on. He looked at her quizzically, as if asking her what she had done.

She sighed. "I know it doesn't look this way, but I didn't have a choice." She scanned her surroundings to make sure they were alone, and Owl understood who she was looking for. He had been with her in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, after all.

From her vantage point, she could see her friends out in the distance, gathering for some kind of meeting. Suddenly they had turned around to look up at the sky, and Cassandra followed to look in the direction of their gazes. Her jaw dropped when she saw it.

“Well that’s convenient,” she remarked dryly to Owl. A hot air balloon had just come out of nowhere, and was moving quickly in the direction of the team. She watched the scene unfolding before her; the balloon descending, Ulf emerging from it, her friends talking among themselves before boarding the balloon and taking off without Adira and Edmund, without Cassandra. The familiar twinge of bitterness returned. She didn't understand how there was always some easy, magical solution to all of Rapunzel's problems. As someone who had to fight to resolve all of her problems, Cassandra found it irritating. Not that it mattered, anymore. She watched as the balloon moved over the horizon, taking her companions with it back to Corona. 

With her friends now gone, Cassandra decided to take a moment to really look at herself in the reflection of the black rocks. Yes she caught glimpses of her reflection as she ran through the kingdom, but she didn't exactly stop to take in her appearance.

To Cassandra's surprised, she looked like an entirely different person. Gone were her hazel eyes and raven black hair. The colors that she grew so accustomed to her twenty-four years of life were gone, replaced by a freakishly fluorescent blue color. The way her eyes glowed unsettled even her. She no longer wondered why her friends looked so frightened of her. Cassandra wasn't exactly the most warm and fuzzy person to begin with, but her new appearance took it to a whole new level.

"Well, this will take some getting used to," she commented as she played with a strand of her newly-colored hair. Owl hooted his agreement.

Her self-appraisal was interrupted by a soft accented voice coming from behind her. "I knew when the time came that you would make the right decision."

She looked at the stones in front of her and caught the reflection of the ghost girl, a few shades dimmer than the color of her hair and eyes.

"To be completely honest, I'm still not sure if my decision was right. But I guess what's done is done."

"Believe me, my dear, in time you will see that there was no other decision to make. Destiny chooses you just as much as you choose it."

Cassandra turned around to look the smiling girl in the eye. Now that she was alone with Zhan Tiri, it was time for her destiny to begin in earnest. This endeavor would certainly take time and patience, but that was alright. 

No one knows the game of waiting quite like Cassandra.


	5. A New Frontier

“Why isn’t this working? Ugh!”

It had been days since Cassandra had taken the Moonstone and watched her friends return to Corona. Now left to her own devices, she had to learn how to navigate this new reality on her own. Unfortunately, she was having a difficult time adjusting to this new path that she had chosen. Ever since she fled the castle, she had found herself unable to control the rocks. She knew that she needed to learn to hone her newfound powers and train hard, but nothing she tried had worked. Once again she found herself hours into a training session in an another attempt to control the rocks, holding her arms out and growing increasingly frustrated when she couldn't make them budge an inch. What had happened? She had complete control over her power at first, and now it seemed as if she had none at all, save for her newfound physical strength and endurance.

"You're doing it wrong," a melodic voice cut in from behind her. Cassandra whipped around in irritation to look at the ghost girl, who had an annoying habit of appearing out of nowhere unannounced. To add to her growing list of frustrations, Cassandra had only learned very little about her new "friend" since making her acquaintance a few days ago. She supposed that the information she wanted on Zhan Tiri would come with time, but Cassandra was starting to grow impatient with the lack of progress she had made on all fronts. For now, all she had gathered was that Zhan Tiri is annoyingly cryptic, had a talent for manipulation, and had a knack for materializing whenever it was inconvenient for Cassandra. 

"Alright then, enlighten me," Cass snapped in response.

"The rocks are not responding to you because you are suppressing your emotions," Zhan Tiri explained. "If you want to control them you must stop bottling all of those feelings inside of you and let yourself feel them."

"Just because I'm a private person doesn't mean I'm bottling up my feelings. I just prefer to deal with them on my own," Cass said defensively. 

Zhan Tiri only smiled in amusement. "Suit yourself." 

If the girl wasn't a literal incorporeal ghost, Cassandra would have smacked that condescending smile off of her face. Who was she to tell Cass that she was suppressing her emotions? She may not wear her heart on her sleeve, but that didn't mean she didn't let herself have feelings. Cass liked to think she handled her emotional problems well. She would feel them, briefly dwell on them, and then shove them into a deep, dark hole until they eventually resurfaced. It usually worked for her. It was what she was doing now, casting her thoughts and feelings about her friends to the side so she could focus on her current training-

...she was starting to see Zhan Tiri's point. That didn't matter. Cass trusted Zhan Tiri as far as she could throw her, which is not at all. She was not about to start listening to the demon's suggestions about controlling her powers. Cass was stubborn and she was going to do this _her_ way.

* * *

Days turned into weeks, and Cassandra continued to make no progress, much to her frustration. These first few weeks had been some of the hardest of her life. Not only was she at an emotional crossroads in the presence of a cunning, manipulative ghost, but physically this was a new frontier. She found herself not needing to eat, not needing to sleep, and that was new for her. Still, she did her best to cling to these activities for some sense of normalcy, even at the ghost’s insistence that she should let that part of herself go, that she was something else now.

Her "friend's" tone and choice of words were slowly changing from when she had first met her, from gentle words of encouragement and empathy to something far more sinister. She notices that she disappears often, sometimes intentionally and sometimes without warning. With that observation Cass deduces that Zhan Tiri is still imprisoned somewhere, and it takes a fair amount of energy to even conjure this incorporeal form that she has become familiar with.

Another thing that was frustrating her was that she couldn't figure out what Zhan Tiri's plan was. She didn't understand why the ghost was investing all of this time and energy in her, or why she had wanted Cassandra to take the Moonstone in the first place. The girl continued to be annoyingly cryptic as she waited patiently for Cassandra to figure out her newfound powers.

Currently the ghost was standing off a few meters to the side, observing as Cassandra tried once again to raise one of the black rocks from the ground, to do anything really. No matter how hard she tried or how much energy she expended, it was never enough. Cassandra was at her breaking point, and the condescending smile she saw on Zhan Tiri's face caused her to snap.

"What is your role in all of this anyway?" Screw subtlety, she needed answers. Perhaps a more direct approach would work.

"I'm here to help you master the Moonstone's power," the girl explained simply, her smile never wavering.

"I figured that much," Cass sighed. She was tired. She was so incredibly tired, and had nothing to show for it, as she was making no progress on her own. It looks like if she was going to figure out her powers, she needed Zhan Tiri's help, whether she wanted it or not.

Defeated, Cass collapsed on the ground. “Fine then, we’ll do it your way. What’s your suggestion?”

"The rocks respond to your emotions, to your hatred and anger. If you truly want to wield the Moonstone, you mustn't be afraid to tap into the depths of your deepest rage." Cassandra looked up from the ground to look seriously at the girl, who was now reaching out for Cassandra's injured hand. "Focus on Rapunzel, and remember what she put you through. And use that fury, Cassandra."

Reluctantly, Cassandra closed her eyes to give the girl's suggestion a try. Cassandra was no stranger to rage. Her entire life, she had always had rage in spades. Instead of pushing it to the side like she had always done, she let herself reflect on her feelings of anger. Her thoughts went to Rapunzel first, and about how _angry_ she was that her friend had always overlooked her and questioned her judgement, even when Cassandra was right. That behavior had led to Cassandra's decayed hand, and Cassandra still remembered her fury as if it had just happened. With that the floodgates broke open, and Cass thought about every instance that had fueled her rage; learning that her mother had abandoned her for Rapunzel, her father never telling her about it, always being overlooked for a position on the royal guard even when she had proved herself worthy, being treated as a lowly servant instead of as a warrior and a friend, no one ever recognizing her accomplishments and how hard she has worked her entire life. 

The feeling of rage was almost overwhelming as it was amplified by the opal in her chest, but she recognized now that the emotion was coupled to the stone's power. She tapped into this anger she felt toward everything in her life, and directed it. Black rocks suddenly erupted from the ground in front of her, and Cassandra smiled. Finally the rocks were responding to her, her rage providing the connection between her will and the power she now possesses. It looks like Zhan Tiri was right, after all; the rocks did respond to her rage.

* * *

Throughout her time in the Dark Kingdom, Cassandra continued to learn much about the ways in which she is connected to the Moonstone. One of the most important lessons she learns is that the Moonstone isn't tied to just her rage; it's tied to _all_ of her emotions.

Rage is what she learns first, of course, under Zhan Tiri's direction. It leaves Cass feeling wrong. She had always been quick to anger, but it was never her defining characteristic. She didn’t like who she was when she let rage instead of practicality guide her actions. The rage was beginning to poison her thoughts, and that realization had unsettled her. 

Fear is what she learns next, and that was a lesson she learned the hard way. 

"I can't control it." Cassandra had collapsed on the ground after struggling to move the rocks. Refusing to be consumed by her rage, she was mentally fighting an uphill battle to keep a sense of clarity and perspective in her mind. Unfortunately, she found that whenever she gave up her feelings of anger, she was also surrendering whatever control she had over her powers.

"You will, Cassandra. In time," the ghost girl reassured her. Cass stood up from off the ground, feeling utterly defeated. 

"I thought that by taking the Moonstone my destiny would become clear," Cassandra said, voicing her thoughts out loud. "But what if I don't even have a destiny?" That was the question that was haunting her mind. What if this was all for nothing? What if she couldn't control the Moonstone, and couldn't finish the mission she had set out to do? She didn't want to think about that she may have sacrificed her entire life for nothing.

"Of course you have a destiny," the girl reassured her again, this time with a sickly sweet smile. "It is to destroy Rapunzel."

Cassandra flinched; that was unexpected. For a moment she had forgotten who she was speaking with. She knew that Zhan Tiri had wanted to destroy Rapunzel, that much was obvious after their previous encounters with Zhan Tiri's disciples. What Cassandra didn't realize until now was that the ghost wanted her to do the dirty work for her. Fear shot through Cassandra at the realization. 

"Destroy Rapunzel? But, I couldn't-"

Before she could finish her thought, red rocks erupted suddenly from the ground.

"What's happening?" she asked, frightened. The red rocks only shot out from the ground faster, and she watched in horror as the continued to quickly erupt down a path leading out of the Dark Kingdom, moving beyond the horizon. 

"You are connected to the rocks. They respond to your feelings, even fear," Zhan Tiri explained, not showing any sign of the alarm that Cassandra was feeling. In fact, the ghost seemed delighted by this new development. 

Cassandra did not share that sentiment. Red rocks continued to emerge from the ground, fueled by her fear, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She found herself frozen in fear. What had she done? All she could do was stand there and stare at the red rocks before her, and feel her fear grow the farther out the rocks went. She could _feel_ the rocks as they had reached Corona, and was helpless as she felt them ravage her home. As _she_ ravaged her home.

Panic filled her, once again exacerbated by the stone she possessed, and she reminded herself that she needed to stop shoving her feelings to the side if she ever hoped to regain control over the rocks. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and reflected on her fear. Her thoughts immediately turned toward the present situation. She was afraid of her newfound powers, namely the lack of control she had over them. She was afraid by what she had done unintentionally, which only fueled their growth and made the problem worse. It was difficult separating the fears of the people of Corona from her own, and this fact left her even more afraid. What was she doing to her home? The kingdom would see this as an attack, she was certain, and that was another strike against Cassandra's reputation. Even though Cassandra felt justified in her mission to stop Zhan Tiri and knew she was acting with her kingdom's best interests in mind, she was terrified that they would refuse to understand her actions and intentions and never let her return home. She was afraid that no one would ever take her seriously, and that she would be looked at with distrust for the rest of her life. Most of all she was afraid that she would fail; fail to learn how to control her powers, fail to stop Zhan Tiri from destroying her home, fail to protect her kingdom, her friends, _Rapunzel_.

With a deep breath to steel herself, Cassandra opened her eyes and reached out to touch the rock in front of her. When she did she was shocked to find that somehow, in some way, she could _feel_ Rapunzel through the rocks. Cass was certain that Rapunzel could sense her through the connection as well. 

"Rapunzel?" she whispered. Wherever she was, Rapunzel's feelings were palpable. Through the connection she could feel the princess's determination, surprise, and most strongly, her fear. That last emotion felt like a kick to Cassandra's gut. The blonde was never afraid of anything, and when she was it was never more prominent than her undying optimism. She had never known Rapunzel to be this afraid, and Cassandra interpreted it to mean that she was afraid of _her_.

Lost in her thoughts, Cassandra was interrupted by the red rocks suddenly retreating into the ground. It certainly wasn't because of her; Rapunzel must have somehow found a way to destroy the rocks on her end. Cassandra just found herself kneeling down, staring numbly at the ground in front of her as she continued to process what had just happened.

"Do you see now?" Zhan Tiri's melodic voice cut into her thoughts once again as she stood just behind her back. "Rapunzel can strip you of your power, Cassandra. If you do not destroy her, she will destroy you."

Would she? All of this time, Cass was concerned about Rapunzel seeking her out to convince her to come home. Cass never thought for a second that Rapunzel would want to destroy her. The idea of Rapunzel wanting to destroy anyone was laughable to her, but she couldn't deny that she was afraid that Rapunzel had given up on her entirely. But Rapunzel has never given on anyone, she reminded herself.

Zhan Tiri was trying to break her down so she could rebuild her into what she wanted Cassandra to be; a weapon in her war. To her credit, she was doing a hell of a job, but she had underestimated Cassandra's iron will. 

* * *

Next Cassandra learns sorrow, and this is when she notices the trend. 

Following the event of the red rocks, Cassandra was finding it difficult to find the motivation to hone her powers. The fear she had felt was traumatizing, and she was afraid of unleashing something like that again. The lack of control over her powers was getting to her, and she couldn't help but fall into a pit of despair. 

She sat on a ledge created from the black rocks and looked out over the Dark Kingdom as she sulked. Zhan Tiri had vanished abruptly a few minutes before, and for that Cassandra was grateful. She desperately needed some time alone without the warlock messing with her mind. Just then Owl swooped down from the sky, landing in front of her with some berries he had collected for her to eat. Cassandra looked over at her friend briefly before turning her gaze back toward the kingdom, her expression looking every bit as hollow as she felt.

Owl hooted loudly in an attempt to grab her attention, insisting that she eat the berries.

"What's the point?" she sighed. "It's not like I need to eat anyways."

Owl tilted his head, reminding her that wasn't the point.

"I know, eating is supposed to help me feel normal, but I feel the farthest thing from normal right now," Cassandra admitted. Owl hopped forward onto her knees where he could maintain eye contact with her, and nodded once as encouragement for her to continue. "It's just...it's been months, and nothing about this new normal _feels_ normal, you know?" Owl nodded once in agreement. "When I took the Moonstone, I was so certain that this was my destiny. I really believed that by taking the stone I'd be able to save Rapunzel from a reckless decision she couldn't come back from, while at the same time protecting her and Corona from Zhan Tiri. Now it's been months, and I still can't figure out how to control these stupid rocks, and I still don't have a clue what that creepy ghost has planned. I thought that this was my chance to prove my worth to everyone and to myself, but now I'm not so sure.

"I left my life behind for this. My home, my dreams of becoming a royal guard, my dad, Rapunzel," she continued, her voice cracking. "Hell, I even miss Eugene. Bickering with Zhan Tiri just isn't the same, mostly because she thinks she's above such 'petty nonsense', as she would call it." She laughed once dryly.

Suddenly Owl fluttered gently onto her shoulder, nuzzling against her face in a rare showing of affection. Cass softened at the gesture, and leaned into it. "Thanks, Owl. I just wish that we can figure this out so we can go home." Her voice cracked again on the last word. She closed her eyes as tears started to form, but for once in her life she didn't fight them, letting herself acknowledge the grief and the sorrow she felt from leaving her life behind. 

She sat like that for a minute until Owl began to hoot, trying to get her attention. When she opened her eyes she was surprised to see the scene in front of her. The black rock ledge she sat on was now softly pulsing the same light blue color as the opal in her chest. The light was strongest where she was sitting, and faded out back to black a few meters from her.

"Am I doing this?" she wondered aloud, and as if answering her question, the light flickered. It was in that moment Cassandra finally understood that the Moonstone wasn't just tied to rage, or fear, or even despair - it was tied to all of her emotions in general. When she stopped fighting her emotions and just let herself acknowledge them for what they are, that was when she was connected to the powers of the stone. By blocking her emotions she was blocking her own access to her powers.

Experimentally, Cassandra stood up from the ground and extended her arms, removing her mental blockades. Black rocks shot out from the ground on her command, and Cassandra sighed in relief. It had worked! She didn't need to focus on her rage like Zhan Tiri had insisted, she just needed to be in sync with whatever her emotions were at the time.

"Owl, it's working!" she exclaimed excitedly as she shot out another rock from the ground. Owl hooted once in delight, happy to see that Cassandra had broken out of her depressive spiral.

* * *

It had taken months, but Cassandra was starting to understand her place in the grand scheme of things. As she learned to control her newfound powers, she understands why the Moonstone allowed her its power; they were one and the same. Cassandra was the embodiment of the moon, just as much as Rapunzel was the embodiment of the sun. For the first time, she believed Zhan Tiri when she insisted that the Moonstone was her destiny, not Rapunzel’s.

She would never admit it to anyone, let alone Rapunzel, but Cassandra has always felt things deeply and intensely. And in order to wield the Moonstone, she had to learn how to let herself acknowledge those feelings and not push them down like she has always done. Where the sun is optimism and positivity, the moon is about those depths of emotion that people aren’t always willing to explore. It’s rage, it’s grief, it’s sorrow, it’s fear...but it’s also purpose, meaning, and love, as Cassandra was starting to learn. The sun is warmth and consistency. The moon is mystery and change. Rapunzel is like a literal ray of sunshine, a dependable source of happiness in the world. Cassandra fell more in line with the moon, her emotions bending and breaking like the tides. Cassandra now understood why she had always been outshined by Rapunzel. But as she learned, it didn't mean that she had no purpose, no effect on the world.

Rapunzel casted away the darkness. Cassandra lived in it.

Only through the acknowledgment of her feelings was she able to work with the Moonstone in tandem; only then did its powers feel as if they were an extension of herself.

And finally, after so much time spent living in the shadows of the Dark Kingdom, Cassandra felt in control. Her confidence was cemented as she used her shadowblade and her newfound control over her powers to craft a halberd from the rocks, the most recent test of her skills. She admired her latest creation as she tested its weight in her hands, feeling proud of the amount of detail that had gone into the weapon.

"I think you're ready," Zhan Tiri said suddenly. Cassandra looked over to where the girl stood a few feet beside her, an impressed smile on her face.

"Ready for what?"

"The next stage of your destiny." The ghost was as vague as ever, but Cassandra was thrilled at the prospect at having a change in her routine. If Zhan Tiri wanted to progress to the next part of her plan, it meant that it was time for Cassandra to progress with hers as well. She was growing impatient with the slow pace of this endeavor.

“Yeah, and what’s that? Building sculptures?” Cass mocked.

“Oh my dear, you still have so much to learn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, thank you so much for all of the kudos and comments, they really make my day!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully I can start updating more often after I turn in a bunch of assignments next week. Get ready for more of Cassandra's journey with Zhan Tiri :)


	6. The Journey Beyond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for being patient with me! After completing a bunch of projects, exams, and one (1) thesis, I'm finally done with school which means that updates on this story should happen more regularly now. Thanks for all of your kind comments and kudos, they really make my day. Enjoy the chapter, and let me know what you think :)

After months of lurking in the area, Cassandra found that leaving the Dark Kingdom behind was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, she was immensely relieved to finally have a change of scenery. The Dark Kingdom was dreary and barren and Cassandra had spent too many difficult months confined to its shadows. In her mind, this foreign land was forever associated with the pain, isolation, and emotional turmoil she had endured, and she was ready to say 'good riddance' and move on with her life.

On the other hand, she was wary of what Zhan Tiri had planned for them beyond the confines of the dreaded kingdom. Naturally, when asked where they were headed, the ghost had kept her answers cryptic, saying that they were moving onto the "next stage of your destiny, my dear". What that meant, Cassandra had no idea, but she suspected it had something to do with striking against Corona. Cassandra had given up this line of questioning for the time being, and resorted to following the path Zhan Tiri was leading her down.

Currently they were walking through a ravine that had led them to the edge of the forest that bordered the kingdom. The darker colors of the land slowly started to give way to a lively green color as they moved down the path, which brightened Cassandra's mood for a moment. That was, until she spotted something out of the corner of her eye, resting against the bottom of a cliff at the edge of the ravine.

When she turned to investigate, Cassandra froze, realizing that she was looking at the caravan. Well, what was left of it, anyway. It had broken into pieces upon impact with the ground, as evidenced by the pieces of wood that were now strewn about in the area. As if pulled by some invisible force, Cassandra diverted from her course to look through the wreckage of the caravan. Noticing that she had turned, Zhan Tiri silently followed her.

In a daze, Cass slowly sifted through the remains to see what had survived the crash. Every item she had come across between the pieces of wood brought back a memory. She saw Rapunzel's telescope battered and broken alongside her palette that had been snapped clean in half. Nearby were Eugene's Flynn Rider books that were only in slightly better shape. Trinkets that had belonged to each one of them had been scattered about with the remnants of their supplies and shelter. Lifting a piece of wood from the ground, she found the small collection of weapons that she had brought with her along for the journey. A piece of paper nestled underneath some more wood captured her attention, and with a gentle tug she pulled it out to see what it was.

Cassandra's heart sank in her chest as she realized that it was a painting of her and Rapunzel standing side by side, smiling. Her thoughts flash backed to the day Rapunzel had painted it for her as a gift. She had appreciated the gesture, and stowed it in her drawer for her to look back on whenever she had wanted. As she remembered the smile on the princess's face, a wave of emotions came flooding in. 

Despite the tension that had grown between her and Rapunzel during their year-long journey, Cassandra missed her. She missed her warm company, her infectious smiles, her boundless optimism, her desire for adventure. Yes, she was pushy and condescending and naive, but above all she was a good person and Cassandra's first friend. She had always admired her free spirit, the way she shared every part of herself with her friends and with her kingdom. She was her polar opposite in nearly every way, yet they had still found common ground somehow. That was what she loved about her. 

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Zhan Tiri studying her expressions and her composure. The ghost's gaze was not judgmental, but rather thoughtful and calculating as she decided on her choice of words. 

"I see the ruins of your caravan have brought back memories," she said simply. Interrupted from her thoughts, Cass looked over at the ghost who was looking at her in what almost appeared to be sympathy.

"You could say that," Cass sighed, staring at the painting in her hands. Zhan Tiri nodded once, encouraging her to continue. "I'd forgotten about most of this stuff. Rapunzel had painted this for me as a gift, said that it was supposed to represent our friendship."

“You poor thing," Zhan Tiri said sympathetically, moving in closer toward Cassandra. She then paused for a moment as she appraised the blue-haired woman, who was gazing sadly at the painting."Rapunzel treated you as her servant, not as her friend. Do you know why I think this hurts you so deeply, my dear?”

“Please, enlighten me,” Cass bit back, turning to glare at the ghost.

Zhan Tiri smiled and fixed her with a knowing look. “You always thought of Rapunzel as more than just a friend, haven’t you?” 

Cassandra froze. Nope. This was one rabbit hole she was not prepared to jump down, not now, not ever.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said evenly, sounding wholly unconvincing even to her own ears.

Zhan Tiri responded with a chiding laugh. “I think you do.”

"No, you don't." In her fury, Cass attempted to lash out at Zhan Tiri with her rocks, momentarily forgetting that it was futile to try and hit an incorporeal being with a physical object. She was taken aback when no rocks had shot out at her command. 

The ghost raised an eyebrow. “Suppressing your emotions again, are we?”

"No-I- _ugh_ can we just drop this conversation?" Cass snapped, frustrated. "There's nothing to talk about."

“Oh I think there is," Zhan Tiri responded with a smirk. "You cared deeply for her, and gave so much of yourself up for her. And she took, and took, and took, until there was nothing left to take, including your life,” the girl continued, gesturing to Cassandra's decayed arm to make her point. “You gave up everything for her, and she never even gave you a second thought.”

Cassandra couldn't take it anymore. She ripped the painting in a brief moment of frustration, and then was filled with guilt. What was she doing? Zhan Tiri had taken the opportunity to get under her skin and remind her how much Rapunzel had hurt her, and Cass would be lying if she said that the ghost wasn’t getting to her.

They watched in silence as the pieces of the painting fell to the ground.

"I sense your guilt, Cassandra. There's no need; guilt is a useless emotion."

"What makes you say that?" It sounds like you've done something that you should feel guilty for.

The ghost only smiled cryptically. “I’ve lived through a thing or two. Your guilt is wasted. You’ll find anger to be a more productive emotion.”

And with that, the ghost continued onward. With one last glance at the fragments of the caravan, Cassandra reluctantly followed, her thoughts and emotions reeling from the conversation. 

* * *

Cassandra continued walking down the forested path out of the Dark Kingdom, Zhan Tiri floating beside her. The ghost had instructed her to keep moving along the path they were on, even if she were to disappear. After about a few hours more of walking the girl abruptly vanished again, and Cassandra was relieved to be alone. The surrounding forest was slightly misted, and the further she progressed down the path, the denser the fog became. 

She wondered where this path was leading her to. Zhan Tiri had offered no clues as to where they were headed, but after their conversation at the caravan the last thing she wanted to do was speak more with the ghost. Despite her best efforts to avoid it, the girl had really gotten under skin. It was as if she knew exactly what buttons she needed to press to illicit an emotional response from Cassandra, buttons that Cassandra didn't even realize had existed. She grit her teeth; she hadn't appreciated Zhan Tiri dredging her long buried feelings and insecurities back to the surface. The last thing in the world that Cassandra wanted to do was to work through painful emotions _again_ , but unfortunately she had no choice in the matter now. Not if she wanted to remain in control of the opal's powers. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself before turning her thoughts inward.

_You always thought of Rapunzel as more than just a friend, haven’t you?_

Zhan Tiri's words echoed in her mind. There was nothing she wanted more than to shut that train of thought down, just as she had always done. Working against the habit, she took another breath and forced herself to acknowledge what she felt. Those words had hit home because Zhan Tiri was _right_ ; Cassandra did see Rapunzel as more than just a friend. The minute she had first recognized that her feelings toward the princess were something more than friendship, Cassandra had shut them down. She couldn't feel that way about her best friend, not when she knew with certainty that Rapunzel would never be more than that to her; just a friend. Rapunzel and Eugene were a package deal from the very first day the Lost Princess had returned to her kingdom. And as incredibly irritating as Cassandra had found the former thief to be, especially in the first few months she had known him, Cassandra knew with certainty that Eugene truly loved Rapunzel from the bottom of his heart, thoroughly and completely. It was clear that he would do anything for her, and Rapunzel felt the same genuine love in return. They were _happy_ , and Cassandra never wanted to do anything to take away from that, even if she thought she stood a chance in the first place. Even knowing that, she couldn't make those feelings go away and it _hurt_. The only way through the pain was to ignore those feelings, bury them deeply until perhaps maybe one day they would disappear completely. What else was she supposed to do?

Now that these memories and feelings were brought back to the surface, she had to confront them. Yes, she loved Rapunzel. Yes, she would never do anything to act on those feelings. Unfortunately, that left Cassandra between a rock and a hard place, caring so deeply for Rapunzel as the princess continued on with life oblivious to that fact.

And Zhan Tiri was right; that fact made those moments where Rapunzel would disregard her hurt even more. In those moments where Rapunzel had treated her as less of her friend and more of her loyal subject, she might as well had taken a knife to Cassandra's heart. This was the one person in the world that she had made herself vulnerable to, was willing to give up everything for, and she had stopped believing in Cassandra completely. That _stung_.

"We're nearly there," Zhan Tiri's voice cut in suddenly, interrupting Cassandra's thoughts. The ghost had caught her off guard; Cass wasn't sure how long it had been since she re-materialized.

Looks like their first stop was not too far from the Dark Kingdom after all. She followed the ghost through the misty forest, taking care not to trip over any vines that were obscured by the thick fog. At the end of the path the fog began to clear, and Cassandra was surprised to see massive stone walls rising high into the sky. 

"Whoa," she whispered in amazement. Zhan Tiri didn't even blink an eye as she continued forward, leading them through the stone archway and into the confines of the walls. The ghost finally paused at the end of the path, and Cassandra stared in amazement at the sight. Where they stood now overlooked what appeared to be a massive maze, full of tall white, vine-draped walls that continued for what seemed like miles. Black spikes adorned the tops of the stone walls, giving the obviously ancient maze a foreboding look.

“What is this place? What are we doing here?” Cassandra asked, curiosity getting the better of her. She was prepared to rip into the ghost until she gave her the answers she wanted, but was surprised by Zhan Tiri finally deciding to give her the information she was looking for. The demon really had a knack for knocking her off guard.

"This is the Maze of Demanitus," Zhan Tiri stated with a relaxed smile. "I believe that you have heard about this place from your former friends. And as I've said, we're here to move onto the next stage of your destiny."

"Which is?"

"Which is to wield the complete power of the Moonstone, of course."

Cassandra frowned. "Haven't I figured that out already? I thought that was the point of training for so many months in the Dark Kingdom."

Zhan Tiri laughed in response. "Oh my dear, you haven't the slightest clue of what you are capable of with the Moonstone in your possession. You cannot begin to realize its full potential, not without the scroll to guide you."

"You mean the scroll that Rapunzel and Eugene have possession of?" she asked. Zhan Tiri nodded in response. "Well that's great, but there's not much we can do about that since they have it."

"You assume that they possess the only copy of the scroll."

Cassandra looked at the ghost incredulously. "Are you saying that there's another copy?"

"Indeed," Zhan Tiri confirmed with a sly smile. "Unknown to Demanitus, his former pupils hid copies of the scroll. The instructions on where to find such a copy were hidden in the maze, waiting for the day someone possessing such a powerful source of magic could come to collect it."

Huh. That was interesting.

"What's so important about this scroll anyway?" Cassandra asked sourly. 

"The scroll contains the incantations necessary to access the full power of the Sundrop and the Moonstone," Zhan Tiri explained. 

That caught Cassandra's attention. "Incantations? You mean like the healing incantation?"

"And the decay incantation," Zhan Tiri said with a smirk, and instinctively Cassandra touched her forearm. "There exists an additional incantation, which is written on the scroll."

"And I'm assuming that it's for accessing the full power of the Moonstone?" Cassandra guessed.

Zhan Tiri beamed at her. "Precisely, which is why it is important that you collect the scroll."

"If you know so much about these incantations, can't you just tell me what this third one is? Otherwise it seems pointless chasing down the pieces of the scroll."

To her surprise, Zhan Tiri's expression soured. It was the first time seeing such an expression on the girl's face, she had realized. "Unfortunately, I do not know the full incantations themselves, only what they are capable of. Demanitus and his former pupils were the only ones who had ever transcribed them."

_So Demanitus is a weak point for her, huh?_ Cassandra filed away that piece of information for later.

“How do you know so much about this?” she tested, and did not receive a response.

Zhan Tiri moved onward and descended the staircase down into the maze, and Cassandra followed suit. They walked into a nearby alcove that was nearly obscured from sight; Cassandra would have never noticed it if Zhan Tiri hadn't led her straight into it. The wall at the end of the alcove looked nondescript at first glance; it looked like a dead end, with vines draping down its walls just like the rest of the maze. On closer inspection Cassandra noticed that the vines were covering what appeared to be an inscription on the wall. Drawing the shadowblade out from behind her back, she cut away the vines to take a closer look. 

Now that she could see it clearly, the inscription was written in a language that Cassandra could not read. While she did not recognize the language, she did in fact recognize the symbol that was carved in above the inscription. It was the symbol that she had learned to associate with Zhan Tiri, the depiction of the horned demon that she had seen on more than a few occasions now. She elected not to comment on the symbol, and turned to the ghost floating beside her.

"What now?"

"See that platform over there?" Cassandra looked over in the direction that Zhan Tiri had pointed her in. Sure enough there was a small platform that was conveniently placed on the edge of the engraved wall, with a circular indent carved into its top. The platform rose to the height of Cassandra's waist and the indentation was no larger than the size of a dinner plate. She approached the platform as she appraised it.

"Yeah, I see it."

"Place your hand on top of it. It should respond to the power of the Moonstone and open the chamber on the other side of this wall."

Cassandra nodded and took another look at the platform. She gently placed her hand in the circle and closed her eyes, focusing on channeling her power into the stone. She opened her eyes as the platform responded in kind with a soft blue glow. She stood her ground as the blue light moved beyond the platform, moving through the cracks in the stone wall and highlighting the inscription engraved in it. With one brilliant pulse of electric blue light, the stone wall split in half and parted to reveal a chamber on its other side. Cassandra only dared to move her hand off the platform once the wall had completely parted and the blue light disappeared entirely. The inside of the chamber was nondescript for the most part, containing nothing but a lone podium that stood in its center. 

Upon approaching the podium, she noticed that there was an old piece of parchment that laid on its top. Delicately, she picked it up and examined its contents. She frowned when she realized that its contents were written in the same language as the inscription on the outside of the chamber.

"I can't read this. It's written in whatever language that was on the wall outside."

"Allow me," Zhan Tiri said. Cassandra turned to her and held the piece of parchment open for her to read. The ghost took a moment to analyze its contents, and the sinister grin she had by the end of the reading told Cassandra that she had found exactly what she was looking for.

"It is what I had suspected. The former pupils of Demanitus had split the copies of the scroll into fragments and had scattered them in different locations throughout the land. They hid the scroll that we are looking for within The Great Tree."

Cassandra frowned. "I don't know how much luck we'll have if it was hidden in the Great Tree. Rapunzel kind of destroyed the place when she used the decay incantation."

It was Zhan Tiri's turn to frown. "That may be true, but I am still certain that the scroll would have survived such an ordeal, especially if it was sealed in a chamber such as this one." Cassandra shrugged in response.

"I guess there's only one way to find out."

They continued on foot in the direction of the Great Tree, making impressive time. It was amazing how much faster the journey progressed when you A.) didn't need to eat or sleep, B.) were infused with a celestial object that provided exceptional strength and endurance, and C.) _weren't stopping every two miles for some useless detour._ If she found herself stuck in another town (or worse, another island), Cassandra was going to lose it.

Despite that, the fast pace they were making unsettled Cassandra. She recognized that they were moving in the direction of Corona, and it was imperative that she stalled Zhan Tiri from reaching the kingdom until she had a plan to deal with the ghost. Her solution? Whenever Zhan Tiri would abruptly disappear (which happened for about two hours about twice a day), Cassandra would stop walking and take the time to sleep. It provided her with a nice respite from her ongoing journey, and had the added benefit of slowing down Zhan Tiri.

The ghost did not attempt to conceal her displeasure over Cassandra's frequent rests. One morning Cassandra woke up from her sleep to come face to face with a scowling Zhan Tiri.

"Did you rest well?" the ghost asked sarcastically.

Cassandra took her time stretching before she stood up. "Yes I did, actually. What's with that look?"

“Both you and I know that given the power of the Moonstone, you do not need to sleep. Sleep is for the weak, Cassandra, and _you_ are not weak."

" _You_ are annoying."

Zhan Tiri's scowl deepened. "And you're acting like a child." 

"You're a _literal_ child," Cassandra countered. 

Rather than continue the banter, Zhan Tiri rolled her eyes and started traversing down their path. Cassandra followed after her with a sense of satisfaction. She was pleased that she was finally able to crack the girl's composure, even if only for a moment.

* * *

They continued on this way for a couple of months, travelling on foot to the Great Tree as Cassandra tried to covertly slow their progress. Over time they had built something of a rapport, and Cassandra did her best to tiptoe the line of letting Zhan Tiri believe that she was being manipulated while simultaneously committing herself to studying her newfound "friend" and the ways she could take her down. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure how successful she was on either front. Zhan Tiri was smarter than she had originally given her credit for, and she still hadn't the slightest clue of how she could stop her. All she could do for the moment was continue waiting and stall, at least until she had some idea of how to proceed.

The landscape changed around them as they moved toward the Great Tree, the flat wooded areas giving way to a more mountainous setting. Cassandra recognized the area, and realized they were getting close to arriving at the Great Tree. At this point they were likely a day or two's journey from arriving.

“Stop,” the girl commanded suddenly from beside her, causing Cassandra to halt in her tracks. “We’re being followed.”

"By who?" Cassandra turned around to see they were in fact being followed. From her higher vantage point she could two figures quickly traversing up the mountain path, one on horseback and one on rhino. She grit her teeth when she recognized the white hair. 

"Ugh, Adira. Of course." The last person in the world that she wanted to see. It surprised her to see Hector riding alongside Adira. She suspected that if the two members of the Brotherhood had put aside their grievances to work together, it meant bad news for Cassandra. While this was incredibly inconvenient, Cassandra would be lying if she said she wasn't itching for a good fight. It had been a long time since she had faced someone in combat.

“As part of their oath to the Brotherhood, they are here to strip you of your power and destroy you," Zhan Tiri said, examining Cassandra with an unreadable expression. "You are a skilled warrior, but you will find my suggestions useful, so listen to me closely.”

“I’m listening.” 

“As I'm sure you're aware of, the relationship between the two is quite tense. Hector believes Adira to be a traitor to their cause for seeking out the Sundrop and guiding the princess to the Dark Kingdom. As you can imagine, he would blame her for the Moonstone falling into your possession. Adira, self-assured as she is, certainly believes that she was still in the right. However, she likely feels responsible to some extent, and seeks to fix the situation herself. Use this to your advantage. Get under their skin, turn them against each other, and you will emerge victorious."

She turned to the ghost as if seeing her for the first time. Honestly, she was impressed by her analysis; it certainly would be useful in facing the members of the Brotherhood. The look into Zhan Tiri's thought process also unsettled her, because she knew that the ghost was likely using similar tactics to get under Cassandra's skin and manipulate her.

Cassandra leaned casually against a tree with her arms crossed, watching Hector and Adira approach. Cautiously they dismounted and drew their weapons, watching the blue-haired woman in the case she made a sudden move.

"Can I help you?" Cassandra asked sarcastically, watching the duo move slightly closer in, Hector's bearcats following suit.

"Give us the Moonstone, Short Hair, and we will leave in peace," Adira demanded. One look at Hector's face told her that was never going to be the case.

Cassandra laughed at her in response. "No chance. The Moonstone belongs to me."

"That stone belongs to _no one,_ " Hector snapped. "It is evil and destructive and has killed everyone who had dared try to wield its power. I thought it would have done the same to you, lady-in-waiting."

The use of her former title struck a nerve, and blue light sparked out from the opal on her chest. "Haven't you heard? I'm not waiting anymore."

"Cassandra, focus," Zhan Tiri chimed in from beside her.

"And I'm sorry to disappoint, Hector, but the Moonstone has chosen _me_. It's not going anywhere."

"Hosting the powers of the Moonstone is not something to be proud of, Short Hair," Adira cut in with a disapproving frown. "The powers of the opal are dark and evil, and the fact that it has accepted you as its vessel speaks ill of your character, quite frankly."

"I'm sorry, am I supposed to care about what you think of me?" she asked mockingly. "Because I don't.” Adira's statement hadn't bothered Cassandra in the slightest. She knew with certainty that the opal that rested above her heart was not inherently evil. Was it powerful and destructive? Sure. Volatile and misunderstood? Absolutely. But evil it was not.

"But enough about me," Cassandra continued, taking a step forward. She glanced over the due before her, Adira looking as composed as ever and Hector looking like a ticking time bomb of fury. It was time to turn the tables on this encounter. "I have to say, I'm surprised to see the two of you travelling together. I would’ve never thought that Hector would stoop so low as to ask for a traitor's help."

"I never asked for Adira's help-" he snarled, starting to lunge forward.

"Hector," the woman cautioned, placing an arm in his way. "While Hector and I have had...disagreements in the past, we both have sworn to protect the Moonstone, so you can see how our interests have aligned for the time being. And you're not one to talk about traitors, Short Hair."

"Aw, so you two made up just for me? I'm so touched," Cassandra said smirking, lacing every word with false sweetness. "By the way, I realized that I never thanked you for clearing the way for me, Adira. If you hadn't led Rapunzel into the Dark Kingdom I would have never been able to achieve my destiny. I have to give credit where it's due, so thanks." Cassandra had successfully struck a nerve; she could see the way Adira's eyes narrowed at her, and the accusatory look that Hector gave the other woman.

"I think this conversation has gone on long enough," Adira said, tightening her grip on her sword. "Last chance to surrender the stone."

"Not happening," Cassandra said, reaching for her shadowblade.

"Excellent job, Cassandra," Zhan Tiri said from beside her, beaming. "Now that Hector is on edge, all it will take is one slip up on Adira's part to turn them against each other."

"That's the idea," Cassandra said with a smile, excited at the prospect of a good fight.

She looked down at the girl beside her as she continued speaking. "You are powerful, my dear, but you are outnumbered. You must exploit their weakness and turn it into your strength if you are to succeed." 

"Yeah I know, I heard you the first time," she said rolling her eyes. "Now let me get on with this."

As she spoke with Zhan Tiri, she missed the confused looks on the Brotherhood warriors' faces as they looked at the empty air beside Cassandra. Her attention was brought back to the duo before her when she heard the sound of Adira's voice.

"Is she talking to someone?" Adira whispered to Hector, frowning.

Cassandra was taken aback by the question. "Are you blind? Clearly I'm talking to her," she said, gesturing to the ghost floating beside her. Hector and Adira looked in the direction in which she was pointing, then turned back to each other with expressions that were a mixture of confusion and concern.

"It appears the foolish girl has lost her mind," Hector said, eyes narrowing at Cassandra.

"Wait, you can't see her?" she asked, genuinely floored. She turned to Zhan Tiri for an explanation, but the little demon child had the audacity to smile sweetly at her. Cassandra decided that this was a problem for later; first she had to get Adira and Hector off of her trail. "You know what? Nevermind. If you think I'm so dangerous, why don't you come over here and find out for yourself."

"With pleasure," Hector snarled, charging forward. Now that the battle had begun in earnest, Cass smiled. She drew her blade and charged forward. Despite the tension that existed between the two of them, Adira and Hector fought side by side like a well-oiled machine. It was clear that they had spent years training together in the Brotherhood. It was a challenging fight, and Cassandra suspected she would have lost quickly if not for the protection and power of the Moonstone. Just when she thought she was starting to get the upper hand, she heard Zhan Tiri's voice from beside her.

“Behind you,” she warned, and Cass unleashed a barricade of rocks behind her to shield herself from an attack by Hector's feral bearcats. She fixed a hard look at Hector and came up with an idea of how to proceed.

Cassandra placed her hand on the ground and snaked one of the black rocks around Adira's foot. She then moved the rock backwards, trapping Adira a few meters from where she was crouched on the ground. Hector then took that opportunity to charge at Cassandra, and instead of deflecting the blow she allowed him to knock her to the ground. Making sure her hand was still planted firmly on the ground, she defiantly stared up into Hector's nearly fluorescent green eyes.

"Your fight is over, foolish girl," he said menacingly. As he started to raise his ax above this heard, she turned to Adira to make sure her eyes were on them. Through her hand she sent a pulse of her power into the ground, covertly weakening the rock's hold on Adira's foot such that she could break free. She then smirked at Adira as lightning started to crackle from her chest, an indication that she was about to unleash the Moonstone's power on Hector.

The timing could not have been more perfect. Recognizing that Cassandra was about to strike, Adira broke free from the rock's grip and sprinted forward. Just as Hector was about to bring his ax down on Cassandra's exposed neck, she shot out a pointed rock to strike him from behind. Before either of them could follow through on the strike Adira had knocked Hector out of the way, sparing both of them from harm. As Cassandra had anticipated, Hector was furious about the interference. 

“I had her, Adira,” Hector spat, turning to the white haired woman in his rage. 

"You did not," Adira corrected, gesturing to the spiked rock. "She nearly had you skewered."

Furious, Hector lunged forward to strike at Adira. Cassandra took the opportunity to quickly disarm them of their weapons. Before they had time to react, she summoned black rocks from the ground and twisted them into a cage designed to imprison them. The two of them looked around in shock, realizing that there was no easy way out. She smirked at the sight, full of satisfaction at having single-handedly defeated two members of the Brotherhood. Using her powers and her shadowblade, she crafted a makeshift shovel and dropped it between the bars of the prison. Adira and Hector looked at her in contempt. 

"Well this was fun," Cassandra said smirking. "When you eventually get out of there, don't bother following me again. It's best that you stay out of my way."

And with that Cassandra turned her back on them, continuing along her path to the Great Tree. Soon before long she had left them far behind, and she was still full of adrenaline from the encounter. She had never felt so powerful before, and she felt a sense of accomplishment over finally winning a fight against not only Adira, but also Hector. The looks on their face when they realized they had lost had been priceless.

Then she remembered the confused expression on their faces when she had been talking with Zhan Tiri, and she sobered up. She looked over to the ghost floating beside her and frowned. 

"Is something the matter?" Zhan Tiri asked innocently.

"Yeah, actually. I was just thinking about the conversation we had leading up to the fight. Why couldn't Hector and Adira see you?" Cassandra asked, already afraid of the answer.

The girl grinned at her wickedly. "It's simple, my dear. You can't see someone who is not really there."

Cassandra stopped walking, dread washing over her. "You're in my head, aren't you?"

Conveniently, the ghost had vanished into thin air at that exact moment. Cassandra suspected it was intentional this time. Fear filled the pit of her stomach, and she sat down on the ground as she processed this new piece of information.

Somehow, in some way, Zhan Tiri was in her head. What that meant exactly, Cassandra had no idea. All she knew now is that no one else could see her ghostly companion. Except for Owl, she remembered. Something about encountering Zhan Tiri in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow must have tethered her to Cassandra, and it was only through her that Zhan Tiri could interact with the world. In fact, that exact encounter had proven that Zhan Tiri had accessed her memories at some point, even memories Cassandra didn't even remember possessing. She didn't want to dwell on the implications of that. Did that mean her mind, her memories, her thoughts weren't safe? If Zhan Tiri had an inkling of Cassandra's thoughts and intentions throughout this endeavor, she had given her no indication of it. But there was still the possibility that the ghost was aware that Cassandra sought to end her, and that possibility terrified her because that meant Zhan Tiri still had some kind of grand plan in which Cassandra was her pawn.

With nothing to ease her uncertainty, Cassandra laid down and let sleep take her.

* * *

Once Cassandra had woken up and found Zhan Tiri waiting for her to continue, it had taken only a few additional hours of travelling to reach the Great Tree. They stood on the top of the cliff side, looking down into its ruins. The destruction and debris were just as Cassandra had remembered it, and she turned to Zhan Tiri to make a snarky comment about she had told her everything had been destroyed. She paused when she saw the expression on the ghost's face.

Zhan Tiri looked out over the ruins of the Tree, and Cassandra noticed that there appeared to be genuine grief in the girl's eyes. She wanted to comment on it, but elected to ignore it for the time being.

"Alright, we're here. What do we do now?"

The mysterious blue ghost took a moment to regain her composure. She instructed that they had to sift through the ruins, and reminded her that the piece of the scroll should have survived if it was encased in a similar type of chamber to the one in the maze.

They descended down into the remnants of the Great Tree to investigate what had survived. It had taken awhile for Cassandra to discover it, but Zhan Tiri ended up being correct after all. At the heart of the tree was a similar chamber to the one they had discovered in the maze, another faded inscription etched into the stone. She noted the nearby platform and once again placed her hand on top of the indentation. Channeling her power, the circle pulsed with a soft blue glow and the chamber began to open. In the middle of the chamber was a small table with a container placed squarely in the center of it. She opened the tube and smiled when she saw it contained the scroll they were looking for, once again written in that ancient language.

"Got it," Cassandra said triumphantly. She turned around with the scroll in hand to ask Zhan Tiri to translate it and frowned when she noticed that her companion was distracted again. The girl was looking through the remains of the Great Tree, staring at the destruction in a mix of sadness, horror, and anger. She was currently reaching for the piece of bark in front of her and looked frustrated by the fact her hand phased right through it. It was disorienting seeing her in such a state; she was always so focused, so composed.

"This place really meant something to you, huh?" Cass said, testing the waters. She expected a snarky response or another cryptic statement. What she didn't expect was vulnerability.

"It was my home," she said softly. "To see it reduced to _this_ pains me in a way I can't begin to express. Demanitus will pay for what he has done."

Cassandra knew better than to remind her that it was technically Rapunzel who had destroyed the tree with the decay incantation. As she watched her expression, Cassandra realized that she couldn't keep on pretending that she didn't know the identity of her new "friend". Not when it was so painfully obvious who the girl was in this moment.

"I never asked you who you are." Cassandra states flatly.

"Cassandra dear, don't you think there is a reason for that?" When Cass doesn't respond, she finishes. "It's because you've known who I am all along."

She flinched. "That's not true."

"Oh isn't it?" the girl said smirking, making it clear that Cassandra wasn't fooling her. "Say my name."

Cassandra held her gaze for a moment before caving. "You're Zhan Tiri."

The sinister smile the ghost girl gave her made her regret ever bringing it up in the first place.


	7. We Are the Same, You and I

Now that they had the scroll Cassandra and Zhan Tiri started to head out of the Great Tree, and Cassandra was sorely regretting bringing up the topic of the ghost girl's identity. To an extent, she had become accustomed to her dynamic with the cryptic little blue ghost. Now that they were no longer tiptoeing around the fact of her identity, that dynamic had started to shift dramatically and Cassandra was not prepared for it.

The first shift came in the form of the girl's appearance. Immediately following the encounter, Zhan Tiri had given up the form of the young girl that Cassandra had become familiar with. She now stood before her as a young woman, maybe only three or four years older than Cassandra herself. The two women now stood eye to eye at nearly the exact same height. Half of her hair remained up in two neat buns on the top of her head, while the rest of it cascaded down her back in delicate waves to the top of her waist. Her face was only slightly more angular now, with prominent cheekbones and dimples that contrasted with her sinister smile. She continued to adorn a gemstone on the center of her forehead, connected to the simple beaded headband she wore. And if Cassandra was being honest, the woman was....well, pretty. For a ghost, that is. 

When Cassandra had reacted to the change in appearance, Zhan Tiri merely smiled. 

"I have no reason to hide from you, my dear," was Zhan Tiri's only comment on the matter, her voice still melodic and bell-like with that same ancient quality to it. 

Cassandra was unsettled by this new development. When she had appeared as a child, Cassandra felt that she could dismiss her as the stuff of nightmares. Zhan Tiri was a wolf in sheep's clothing and Cassandra was very aware of that fact when she was a creepy little girl who spoke like an ancient entity. Now that she stood before her as someone her own age, Cassandra no longer could see her as that; she felt more human now, and less like a monster from legends or fairy-tales. The last thing Cassandra wanted to do was see her as anything but a demon.

On their way out of the Great Tree, Cassandra found herself pausing when she noticed light reflecting off of an object. When she turned in the light's direction she saw a spear resting on the ground near what she assumed to be the long dead heart of the tree. She recognized it as the same spear she had been reaching for as Rapunzel had used the decay incantation. Frowning, she walked over to pick up the spear, experimentally turning it over in her hands as the memories from her last time in the Great Tree came flooding back.

_In front of her she could see it; the spear pulsing blue with magic, their way out of this mess. She started to struggle against the green vines that had wrapped around her when she noticed Rapunzel, throwing her hair around the heart of the vines that had possessed Hector._

_"Raps, wait! You can't do that incantation again."_

_"I don't have a choice, Cass."_

_"Please, Raps! That spear can kill it. Let me try and grab it. Trust me!"_

_She reached for the spear again, and this time it was merely an inch out of her grasp. One more lunge forward and it would be within her fingertips. This was her moment, the chance she had been waiting for to prove herself and save her friends. She knew with the spear, she could get everyone out alive and unharmed. She just needed Rapunzel to trust her judgement, just this once._

_"I have to do this," Rapunzel insisted, ignoring Cassandra's pleas_

_"No!"_

_Rapunzel cited the words to the decay incantation and darkness had taken over her once again, her hair and eyes turning pitch black with a green tint from the Great Tree's ancient magic. The tree started to decay and collapse around them, and Cassandra had managed to break free from the vines. She dove for the spear in front of her and sprinted towards the princess, who was once again stuck in the incantation's trance._

_"Raps please, let go," she begged._

_"I can't."_

_"What are you waiting for?"_

_"I can't control it,"_

_Cassandra had heard enough; without her intervention, Rapunzel would be stuck under the decay incantation's influence. Cass couldn't allow that to happen. She reached out to grab Rapunzel's arm to snap her out of her trance, before the tree could collapse in on them. Her gloved hand made contact with Rapunzel's skin and erupted into a mysterious blue flame. Screaming in pain she pulled her hand away, but it was too late. Her hand had burned and withered away before her eyes, turning blistered and black with decay halfway down the length of her forearm._

_"Cass, no!" Rapunzel cried out, finally snapping out of her trance._

_The pain in her arm was excruciating, but even that didn't compare to the hurt she felt over Rapunzel blatantly ignoring her judgement once again._

_"I could've stopped it. You should've let me try."_

The wave of emotions Cassandra had felt that day came crashing over her once again. The fear, the anger, the hurt, the pain, the insecurity coursed through her again, fresh as the moment she had first felt them. To Cassandra, the spear she had held in her hands was a physical representation of Rapunzel's lack of faith in her. She knew with certainty that she could have stopped the Great Tree's magic from killing them, but her friend never even gave her the chance to try.

This was usually the part where Zhan Tiri would comment on Cassandra's emotions and try to push her towards the edge of her rage and bitterness. Noting that her companion was uncharacteristically silent, Cassandra looked up and finally noticed the scowl on Zhan Tiri's face that was directed to the object in her hands. Evidently, the spear represented something entirely different to the ghost. Cassandra recognized that this was her chance to turn the tables and get some potentially useful information out of her.

"Not a fan of the spear, huh?" She didn't think it was possible, but the ghost's glare intensified. There was an extraordinary amount of contempt in her eyes. 

"That would be an understatement," she said darkly. She paused for a moment before asking seriously, "What do you know of this place?" 

Cassandra frowned as she considered the question. "Well, I know it was your stronghold. At least until Demanitus put this spear into the heart of the tree." The ghost nodded, encouraging her to continue. "When we were passing through here on our way to the Dark Kingdom, Adira said that this tree was a sentient being or something like that. She said it was a force for good, until it was corrupted by evil magic."

"What you were told was a lie," Zhan Tiri hissed suddenly, cutting off Cassandra who was taken aback by the outburst. "This tree was in fact a sentient being, but it was _never_ evil. The Great Tree was an incredible force of magic, planted from a soul millennia ago."

Cassandra wasn't sure how planting a tree from a soul worked, but she didn't dare interrupt the ghost's passionate tirade.

"It was a source of magic of the most natural kind, limitless in its power and unable to be controlled...until humans came along. You see, people fear what they cannot control, so they sought to conquer the Great Tree. They came along and poisoned its magic such that the tree was defenseless, a shell of its former self. It remained that way for centuries until I came along. I saw the beauty that was held within it, a magic guided by the forces of nature and not corrupted by the forces of man. It's where I had learned of what true magic is. I freed the Tree from its restraints, and in return it allowed me to reside within it. Demanitus knew all of this, yet he still rendered the Tree defenseless against the outside world once again with that spear, forcing its spirit into a dormant state."

Zhan Tiri paused, noticing a seed on the ground nearby. She knelt on the ground and reached for it, and her expression crumpled when her hand phased right through the seed.

“When I am released from my prison, I intend to restore the Tree to its former glory. It pains me that I cannot do that now.” 

Cassandra was uncertain how to respond to her speech nor Zhan Tiri's moment of vulnerability. She felt awkward responding with words, so she opted for an action instead. Slowly she took a step forward and reached for the seed on the ground, pocketing it within her armor. Zhan Tiri looked up at her with a surprised expression, looking genuinely touched by the gesture. 

Never one for touchy-feely moments, Cassandra shifted uncomfortably. It was time to change the subject. 

"Alright, then. Let's get out of here and figure out what's on the stupid scroll."

Following their departure from the Great Tree, they had found themselves in a nearby wooded area by the side of a lake. With the Great Tree now out of sight, they could focus entirely on the task at hand. Cassandra held out the scroll for Zhan Tiri to read, and the smile on her face told her that it had contained the information they were after.

"Excellent, it appears that my disciples managed to transcribe the entirety of the third incantation onto the scroll. Reading this incantation out loud will allow you to wield the complete power of the black rocks." Zhan Tiri continued to read the scroll, translating its contents out loud for Cassandra to repeat. Tentatively holding her arm in front of her, Cassandra recited the words of the third incantation.

"Crescent high above,

Evolving as you go,

Raise what lies beneath,

And let the darkness grow.

Bend it to my will,

Consume the sun light's glow

Rise into the sky,

And let the darkness grow,

Let darkness grow."

Whatever power and control she thought she had before paled in comparison to the power she had under the incantation. With a flick of her wrist she could now summon a massive barrage of rocks at once and make them erupt with powerful bolts of blue lightning. She could include intricate details into her structures that were previously impossible and was certain she could construct massive architectures at a moment's notice if she desired.

Cassandra felt _powerful_. Now more than ever she was a formidable foe, and no one could stand in her away.

Well, except for one specific blue ghost, of course, but she was working on that.

Now that she possessed the third incantation, she wondered what the next step of Zhan Tiri's plan was. She was not sure where they went from here, although she hoped it had nothing to do with Corona. At least not yet, anyway. Cassandra needed to come up with a plan to defeat her before Zhan Tiri could execute whatever plan she already had.

"Where do we go now?" she asked her "friend". 

"The Spire. There are some artifacts there that we will find...useful," Zhan Tiri said cryptically. Again she only shared the next immediate step with no mention of an end goal, which Cassandra found immensely frustrating.

What game was she playing? Cassandra knew that Zhan Tiri wanted Corona destroyed. Zhan Tiri knew that Cassandra knew this fact. Why beat around the bush? Did she recognize that Cassandra was reluctant to set foot in the kingdom? She briefly thought about bringing up the topic of what her plans for Cassandra were, but at this point Cassandra knew better than to ask. The sorceress had a way with words, and she was afraid of what seeds of doubt she could plant in her head. For now it was best that she followed her direction without question. 

* * *

They continue along the road in the direction of the Spire, passing through the woods and abandoned settlements alike. At one such settlement Cassandra pauses, noticing that the town had been ravaged by the black rocks. The destruction around her was an upsetting sight, and reminded her of the reason they had taken a journey to the Dark Kingdom in the first place; to stop the black rocks from taking over everything. That was supposed to be Rapunzel's destiny.

With a start, Cassandra realized that it was part of her own destiny now. The Moonstone was hers to command, which meant that she alone had the power to undo the aimless destruction brought about by the opal. Kneeling down on the ground, Cassandra placed her hands on the ground and closed her eyes. She reached out to the black rocks using the power granted to her by the third incantation, becoming aware of their full extent. She could feel exactly where each one stood, all the way from her current location down to the outskirts of Corona. Focusing on her energy and power, she returned them into the ground. 

Opening her eyes, she noticed that the settlement was now clear of the black rocks and smiled.

Zhan Tiri smiled from beside her. "Now you understand, the Moonstone was your destiny all along. The decisions are yours to make and yours alone. Tell me, my dear, how does it feel to finally be out from Rapunzel's shadow?"

She didn't warrant her question with a response, but in all honesty Cassandra felt great about it. There was no reason that Rapunzel had to be the one to stop the black rocks from ravaging the continent; Cassandra was perfectly capable of doing so herself. The Moonstone was her destiny and hers alone, and it was _finally_ Cassandra's turn to be the hero. The former lady-in-waiting wasn't waiting anymore.

* * *

Cassandra's first encounter with civilization comes when she finds herself needing to cross the sea again to get to the Spire. Perched on the outskirts of the sea-faring town of Stelrock, she decided that the best course of action is to stow away on a boat. The first issue was reaching one of the ships undetected, a task made difficult by her brightly colored hair and unconventional armor. Left with no choice she grabbed a black cloak off of a nearby clothesline, conflicted about the act of stealing. Under the cover of night she put on the cloak and stealthily boarded a cargo ship bound for the other side of the sea, relief crashing over her when she managed to hide away unnoticed. All she could do now was wait until the ship completed its journey, hoping the entire time that she wouldn't be shipwrecked and trapped on Terapi Island again.

After an unknown amount of time the ship finally docked at their destination, and Cassandra managed to disembark the ship without notice. It was daylight, so she took care in obscuring herself with the hooded cloak as she passed through the marina. She only allowed herself to relax when she managed to slip through the rest of town undetected, finally reaching its outskirts. 

Unfortunately, she had let her guard down too soon. She looked over at Zhan Tiri as an unreadable expression crossed her face.

"Zhan Tiri, what is it?" The casual use of the ghost's name still felt strange to her.

"You're being followed."

"Again?" Cassandra turned around to see that the ghost was once again correct. There were three guards that were trailing after her and now that she had noticed them, they picked up the pace to descend on her. She placed a wall of black rocks in between herself and the guards and turned to run.

Cassandra grit her teeth as she sprinted through the outskirts of the town. She had been so close to avoiding any unnecessary encounters with people.

"This way," Zhan Tiri said suddenly, pointing her in the direction of a dense, forested path.

Without hesitation Cassandra ran down the path and pressed herself between a tree and some thick underbrush, obscuring her from sight. She didn't move from her spot until she could no longer hear the footsteps or shouts of the guards. Only then did she take a tentative step forward, looking back in the direction where she had come from. Now that she had avoided them, she briefly wondered why guards were after her in the first place. Had someone on the ship reported her as a stowaway? 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a sword being drawn from farther down the path behind her. She stood frozen in place, listening to the sound of hesitant footsteps moving in her direction.

"Cassandra? Is that you?"

_No, no, no, no._ That voice. It was impossible. There was no way that he was here right now. She wasn't prepared. 

"Dad?" She turned around and was faced with her father standing before her with his sword drawn and a cautious look in his eye. Reluctantly she removed her hood and heard him gasp at the sight.

She could only imagine what he was thinking right now. Here his daughter stood before him, and she may as well have been a complete stranger. The woman standing before him looked nothing like he remembered, with deathly pale skin and eyes that unnaturally glowed the same light electric blue color as her hair. The many outfits he remembered his daughter wearing were long gone, replaced by sleek black and blue armor crafted from the rocks she wielded. The Moonstone sat in her chest above her heart, emanating an eerie blue glow that was not dissimilar to her eyes. What stood out the most though was how sharp Cassandra was, her armor, her posture, her expression, her eyes. Everything about her screamed "dangerous".

"What have you done?" he asked in horror.

"What needed to be done," she responded coldly. "What are you doing here? How did you even find me?"

There was no way that this was a coincidence. She realized with a start that it was Zhan Tiri who had instructed her to take this path. The ghost had led her straight to her father, and she was not thrilled with that fact. She briefly looked over in Zhan Tiri's direction with a withering glare before turning back to face her father. 

"About eight months after you left with the princess, there was some trouble in Corona. The king ordered me and a few of the other guards to search for your caravan and bring you all home, but we never caught up. By the time we returned, the princess was already back and she explained that you," he paused as he looked at the Moonstone on her chest with a pained expression, "...had made other arrangements. The king wanted to send out a search party, but I volunteered myself for the task. Cassandra, I've been searching for you for months now. I had no luck until I heard some recent reports that a blue-haired woman stowed away on a ship in Skelrock. Figured that you would be headed in the direction of Corona, and well, here we are."

"Here we are," Cassandra repeated with a sigh. There was so much that she wanted to say, yet she wanted to say nothing at all. This was not how she wanted to face her father. She had hoped that she wouldn't encounter him until after she had successfully managed to put an end to Zhan Tiri. Since she was still far from reaching that goal, she already knew that neither her nor her father were going to like how this encounter would end. She needed to keep a level head if she wanted this conversation to be as painless as possible. "Well, you found me. What now?"

"Come home, Cassandra. It's not too late for you to make things right."

That struck a nerve, but she ignored the feeling. "Both you and I know that I can't do that. The Moonstone is my destiny and I'm not giving it up."

"What happened to you, Cassandra?" he asked seriously. "How could you turn your back on the princess, on Corona?"

She wanted to scream at him that _of course_ she hasn't turned her back on her kingdom and how _dare_ he accuse her of such an action, but she couldn't do that with Zhan Tiri hovering nearby. She knew how it looked, and she needed it to stay that way. 

"You wouldn't ask me that if you knew what I've been through," is all she says through gritted teeth.

"Then talk to me," he begged. 

Cassandra opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Zhan Tiri.

"My dear, do you really believe that he will listen to what you have to say?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow. "This is the same man who refused you your rightful place on the Guard, no matter how many times you begged him or proved yourself capable." The ghost's reminder hurt, but Cassandra did her best to ignore her and the emotions she was bringing to the surface. She recognized that Zhan Tiri was trying to turn this into an emotional roller coaster and exploit her vulnerabilities. If Cassandra flew into a rage this would end badly, so she fought against her old feelings of resentment to keep a level mind.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked. "Will you even listen, or are you just going to tell me to grovel at Rapunzel's feet for forgiveness?"

"Just tell me what I can do to help you," he said earnestly.

Zhan Tiri snorted at the response. "Right, just like he helped you when the king was going to have you sent to a convent."

Cassandra bristled at the reminder. She was growing infuriated with Zhan Tiri's interruptions and tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, prevent her emotions from building, but Zhan Tiri wasn't done.

"Or those times he helped you by refusing to give you guard assignments."

"Shut up."

"Oh, and let's not forget about how he's lied to you for your entire life about who your mother was."

" _Stay out of this_ ," she snapped, blowing up on the ghost. Zhan Tiri grinned as the Captain looked around in concern, the presence beside his daughter invisible to him. 

"Who are you talking to?" he demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Cassandra snapped, turning around to leave. "This conversation is over."

"Like hell it isn't," the Captain snapped in return. "You're not leaving."

"Is that an order, sir?" she asked sarcastically.

"It most certainly is," he said firmly. 

"Funny, because last I remember, I'm not a member of the Guard." And there it was; Cassandra had lost her fight against her emotions the moment she snapped at Zhan Tiri. Now her feelings of bitterness and anger were rising to the surface, and she was unable to push them back down. Before her father had the chance to respond she continued, the Moonstone amplifying her negative emotions and fueling her outburst. "Admit it, I was never enough for you. My entire life I worked tirelessly to prove to you that I was more than capable of becoming a royal guard, and every single time you shot me down. Did you even care? Even when the king was going to have me sent to a _convent_ , you stood there and did nothing."

"That's not true-"

"What was it, hm? Was it that you thought I was too weak? Was it because I'm your daughter, and girls have no place on the Guard? Or was it that you were afraid, because of who my mother was?"

His eyes widened at the last accusation. He didn't even try to defend himself. "Who told you?"

Her temper flared beyond her control. "How _dare_ you ask me that! You should have been the one to tell me! You knew all along how much was taken from me, you _knew_ who my mother was, and you kept it from me."

"Cassandra, I only did what I-"

"You only did what was best for yourself, that's all anyone in my life has ever done. You, Rapunzel, Gothel, _everyone_. Well now that's what _I'm_ doing. _This_ is mine, this is _my_ destiny."

"I command you to surrender."

"Never."

And with that Cassandra unsheathed her shadowblade, cutting down the tree beside them in an effort to distance herself from her father. As soon as the tree fell between them she sprinted in the opposite direction as fast as she could.

"Cassandra!" her father called out after her, his voice slowly fading in the distance. "Cassandra, no!"

She ran for what felt like hours, not stopping to rest until she was certain that she had left him far, far behind. Cassandra was shaken, to say the least. The encounter had left her reeling. Part of her had always wanted to confront her dad, but not like this, not under these circumstances. She hadn't meant to snap at him like she did, but Zhan Tiri knew exactly what to say in order to send Cassandra flying off the handle. Even before she had the Moonstone, she was horrifically bad at keeping her emotions under control. Now that they were amplified it was even more difficult for her to manage them. All it took was one slip in concentration and she had lost complete control. Now there was a rift between her and her father, and she was helpless to fix it for the time being.

Even though she was aware of what Zhan Tiri was doing, she had once again managed to manipulate the situation. She had taken advantage of Cassandra's volatility, and Cassandra hated how easy it was for the ghost to perturb her. There was nothing she wanted more than to turn the tables and learn to push her buttons, but Cassandra wasn't certain if she could. Zhan Tiri was the epitome of composure. Where Cassandra was like an ocean wave crashing on the shore, Zhan Tiri was a quiescent lake, mysterious and still at the surface with dark secrets looming in its depths. The sorceress may as well have been a vault; the only evidence of her emotions was the vulnerability she had shown at the Great Tree. Cassandra needed to learn to crack her open, or she risked Zhan Tiri continually exploiting her vulnerabilities. 

Almost as if summoned by her thoughts, Zhan Tiri appeared beside her. Cassandra simmered with a quiet rage; the last thing she wanted to do at the moment was listen to her speak.

"Don't even think about speaking, Zhan Tiri." She spat the name like a curse. "I don't want to hear it."

Zhan Tiri rolled her eyes and spoke anyway. "Running from our problems again, are we?" 

Cassandra ignored the provocation. 

"You can't hide forever, Cassandra. Don't you see now? Corona seeks to strip you of your power, of your destiny. They will not rest until you submit or have been defeated. This encounter with your father is only the beginning. Do you really believe that they will ever stop searching for you?"

Again, Cassandra ignored the ghost. Zhan Tiri had done enough damage today, and she just wanted to be left alone.

"You know, Cassandra, you remind me of myself."

Against her better judgement Cassandra found herself snapping. "I am _nothing_ like you."

“Oh don’t act like you’re horrified. We’re the same, you and I.”

“We are not.” Cass growled, lightning crackling from her chest.

“Spare me the theatrics, Cassandra. Do you really believe that I am actually some ancient demon? Did it not once occur to you that many of those 'stories' were fabricated and twisted over millennia, that the woman who stands before you now is my true form?” Zhan Tiri snapped. 

Cassandra opened her mouth to respond, but found herself with nothing to say; it hadn't occurred to her, not really. 

“Tell me, what do the stories say I am? A demon, a warlock, a sorcerer, a man, for heaven’s sake. All are stories that were passed down to tarnish the legacy of an ambitious woman who just wanted to make her mark on the world and find her destiny.” 

Cassandra's silence spoke for itself.

“Sound familiar?" Zhan Tiri asked with a smirk. "I told you, we are not so different after all. You don’t think the people of Corona are talking about you, slandering you and the reputation that you worked your entire life to build? You betrayed their beloved princess and took power for yourself, which makes you a monster in their eyes.”

“I am not a monster,” she snapped, quick to defend herself.

“I never said you were, only that they perceive you to be. Wait long enough and the story of Cassandra will only grow and become an unrecognizable caricature of you, your legacy reduced to the fanged evil witch that lives in the woods.”

She flinched; that couldn't be true. Not wanting to listen to anything else Zhan Tiri had to say, she laid her head on the ground and closed her eyes, desperate for sleep to take her and give her a reprieve.

Before she could slip into unconsciousness, she couldn't help but hear Zhan Tiri's final words on the subject. “How society treats women like us is unforgivable. With the power of the Moonstone, you can make them pay. You can prove once and for all how powerful you are and no one will ever underestimate you again."


	8. The Inflection Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, thank you to everyone for all of the kudos and kind comments! :) This chapter ended up being longer than I anticipated so I actually split it up into two different chapters, so the second half should be up on Thursday. After that chapter is posted I plan to regularly update on Mondays so I can keep myself to a schedule. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

Cassandra took one last step forward and smiled when she took in the sight of the small tower that stood at the end of the rocky mountain pass. She had finally reached the next stop on their journey; the Spire. Double checking that the ghost had not yet returned to her side, she decided to take this opportunity to rest. She sat down and leaned against the cliff-side and looked at the Spire in interest, wondering what she was about to get herself into. Owl perched on her shoulder and kept her company as she waited for Zhan Tiri to re-materialize from whatever void she often disappeared into. After a couple of hours Cassandra noticed her reappearance. No more stalling; it was time to get down to business.

"We're here," Cassandra informed, answering Zhan Tiri's question before the ghost had a chance to ask it. "What now?"

"Excellent," Zhan Tiri said beaming. "We are here to collect a few select artifacts that will be of use to us moving forward. Many of these items should be located within the Keeper's quarters, but I am afraid some may be locked at the top of the mountain within the Spire's vault." Cassandra frowned; she wasn't sure how easy it would be to get into the vault.

"Getting to the vault might be tricky, but going through Calliope's place should be simple enough." Cassandra knew from her last visit to the Spire that the place was woefully unguarded, save for the kurlock guarding the vault at the top. But now that Calliope was in charge and the original Keeper had left she suspected the possibility that the fully grown kurlock had gone with him, leaving only the condescending Calliope and her young, very small kurlock to protect it. If that was the case, she liked her odds. All she had to do was sneak around, grab whatever they were looking for, and avoid an encounter with the world's most annoying person. 

Under the cover of night, Cassandra quietly scaled the building and slipped inside through an open window. She found herself standing in Calliope's bedroom and was relieved to find the Keeper was sound asleep. Silently she crept to the edge of the bedroom and entered the main area of the Spire. The candlelit corridor was truly a sight to behold, artifacts and books covering the rooms wall to wall and scattered about on tables and displays. The amount of stuff was overwhelming, and Cassandra wasn't sure where to start looking. In fact, she still didn't even know what she was even supposed to be looking for.

Looking around the room she noticed an elegant sword. Interested by the weapon, she walked over to the display case and picked up. She turned it over in her hands as she admired the blade and the intricate marking on it.

Zhan Tiri sauntered over with a knowing smile on her face. "That would be the Blade of Sarretti. It is a one of a kind weapon. Close your eyes and picture another weapon in your mind. A dagger, perhaps."

As instructed, Cassandra closed her eyes and focused on an image of a dagger in her head. She opened her eyes when she noticed a flash of white light and watched as the blade morphed into the shape of a dagger in her hands. Cassandra looked at the weapon in awe, amazed by the transformation and the utility of such a shape-shifting weapon. "Whoa." 

"You see, the Spire is full of unique artifacts. The mission of this place is to hold onto these powerful pieces of magic and knowledge to protect the world. Objects such as these, which are the ones that we have come here to collect." Zhan Tiri gestured to a nearby display that consisted of a couple tables and a shelf of books and scrolls. After placing the weapon she was holding back into its case, Cassandra turned to examine the contents of the exhibit. The first that caught her eye was a small idol of the horned demon that she had come to associate with Zhan Tiri throughout the years. Upon a closer look, she noted that the display also included some scrolls, books, and a collection of eclectic objects that looked like useless junk.

"What are these things?" Cassandra asked. She picked up the book closest to her and examined it in her hands. It was written in an ancient language she could not understand, but she was able to recognize the symbols of the sun and moon etched into its pages.

"What you hold in your hands is a book of ancient celestial magic that contains some writings on the Sundrop and the Moonstone," Zhan Tiri explained. 

Cassandra looked down at the other contents of the exhibit. "What about these other books and scrolls? Is all of this stuff related to the lore? I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Spire has a whole collection on this stuff."

"They don't belong to the Spire, they belong to me," Zhan Tiri hissed suddenly, causing Cassandra to flinch. She was suddenly grateful that she didn't call the stuff junk to her face. The ghost quickly regained her composure before continuing. "Before I was imprisoned, these were my most treasured belongings. Many of these writings and items will be of value to us moving forward, which is why we have come to reclaim them."

"Great. What should I grab?"

"Everything."

"That's helpful, thanks," Cassandra muttered sarcastically. She scoped the room until she found a rather large messenger bag nearby and started unceremoniously stuffing the books and scrolls into it. In all honesty, she had no idea what she was even grabbing; there were books, scrolls, vials, and other things that looked like junk to Cassandra but were likely incredibly rare and valuable magical items. Once she had cleared nearly everything in the exhibit that she believed belonged to Zhan Tiri the ghost had directed her attention to another nearby table.

“Grab that,” Zhan Tiri said, pointing toward a boomerang that rested in a display case. The weapon looked nondescript, constructed entirely from wood with sharp, metal trimming on a part of its inner bend.

“The boomerang?" Cassandra asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. Of all the kinds of amazing weapons this place held, Zhan Tiri wanted her to grab the _boomerang_?

"Yes," the ghost replied, giving her the side eye in response to her tone. "It's mine."

"Really Zhan? Your weapon of choice is a _boomerang_?” The nickname slipped from her lips before she realized what she was doing. Zhan Tiri quirked an eyebrow at the shortened name, but didn't comment on it.

“Is there an issue?” she asked seriously with a threatening look in her eye, as if daring her to insult her choice of weapon. Cassandra decided that this was not the hill she was going to die on. 

“It’s an interesting choice, is all. I prefer my weapons...” she thought back to her wardrobe of weapons back in the castle, “...well, more pointy.”

Zhan Tiri snorted. “You would be surprised what one can do with a boomerang.”

Cass had to admit that she found the woman _incredibly_ fascinating. 

With that, she removed the boomerang from the case and placed it at the top of the messenger bag. "Alright. Is that it?"

Zhan Tiri frowned as she examined the contents of the bag. "Not quite. There is one other item that we need, but I’m afraid that it may be locked in the Spire’s vault."

"Are you going to tell me what it is, or are you gonna make me guess?" Zhan Tiri ignored the rude tone.

“It is an artifact that’s tied to the Moonstone called the Mindtrap talisman.”

“Mindtrap?” Cass asked frowning. She wasn’t sure if she liked the sound of that. “What does it do?”

“It is an artifact belonging to the Brotherhood. You can think of it as our insurance policy, of sorts,” she responded cryptically. Cassandra wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but it wasn't worth pressing the issue.

“Great. That means we’re going to need Calliope’s keys if we’re going to get inside the vault.” She started looking around for any trace of the keys and was startled by the sound of rustling.

"Put on that cloak," Zhan Tiri commanded suddenly, pointing to where a nearby cloak rested on a rack. "Quickly. The Keeper's guard is walking this way."

As Cassandra quickly placed the cloak around herself, she listened to Zhan Tiri speak about what the cloak was and how to use it. At the end of it she looked down at herself and marveled at the sight. The cloak had the incredible ability to disguise the wearer as any other person in existence, so now she found herself standing in disguise as the ancient former Keeper of the Spire. Cassandra decided immediately that she was keeping this cloak for herself; it would prove incredibly useful for hiding in plain sight as she passed through civilization. As she appraised herself, Calliope’s tiny pet kurlock rounded the corner with a sleepy look in his eyes. He looked at Cassandra’s disguised form and seemed delighted to see him. So far, it seems the plan had worked just in the nick of time.

Now it was time to act the part. She held up a finger to her mouth to indicate silence. “I apologize to show up in the middle of the night unannounced, but I’m afraid I have business here of the utmost matter. I need to get into the Spire's vault immediately. Where is Calliope keeping the keys?" The baby kurlock squeaked once in acknowledgement and started to walk forward. Cassandra blinked once in surprise. Certainly it couldn't be this easy.

To her surprise, it did seem to be that easy. The kurlock, clueless to the fact that this surprise visitor was not actually the former Keeper, had guided her into the side room off of Calliope's bedroom where the key ring was kept. Cassandra still in disguise quickly thanked the kurlock and left out the back to climb the mountain up to the Spire's vault. 

Without Calliope there to pester her, she reached the Spire's vault in record time. Slowly she worked through all of the keys until she finally found the one that unlocked the door. Only when she had entered and shut the door did she remove the cloak. She stuffed it into her bag containing the rest of the items she had collected with a sense of satisfaction. Now that she was inside, she marveled at all of the artifacts that stood before her. There were countless items, and after seeing the objects she had, she wondered what each of these things were capable of. So far they had all proven useful.

"Alright, we made it," she said as she looked over at Zhan Tiri. "Do you see the Mindtrap anywhere?"

Zhan Tiri took a moment to analyze the contents of the vault. After scanning the entire room, she pointed to one of the shelves on the spiral staircase that was fairly close by.

"There. The Mindtrap is in that box. Let's hope the key is somewhere on that ring of yours." 

Cassandra walked up to the box. It didn't look like much on the outside, but she believed the ghost knew what she was talking about. As she tested all of the keys on the box she decided to comment on Zhan Tiri's immense breadth of knowledge. 

"How do you know so much about all of this Spire stuff anyway? You're like a walking encyclopedia." Zhan Tiri laughed in response. 

"My dear, no one knows magic quite like I do. I dedicated my entire life to the study of the mystic arts, so it is only natural I am well versed in the artifacts that have been locked away here."

Before Cassandra could comment further, the key she held had opened the lock on the box. Huh. She really didn't think that this whole endeavor would be so simple. She opened the box to take a look inside and was greeted by the sight of the Mindtrap. It was a blue stone that was marked with the symbol of the Brotherhood. When she reached out to touch the talisman it began to glow the soft blue light that she had become familiar with and noticed the opal in her chest was glowing as well.

"I can feel the magic in this," Cassandra commented. "It feels...almost like an extension of myself. This Mindtrap, it's powered by the Moonstone, isn't it?"

"Of course. All magic has a source, my dear. You can't create something from nothing. Just like the Mindtrap was crafted by the opal's limitless power, many of the objects you see in this room are powered from some external source of magic."

Cassandra closed the box and placed it unlocked into her bag. She thought over Zhan Tiri's words and admired all of the different artifacts that surrounded her. Before taking the Moonstone, Cassandra really didn't give a damn about magic. To her, matters of magic were problems that needed to be solved. She didn't care much for the intricate details involved. But now that her fate was interwoven with celestial magic beyond her understanding, she now found herself curious. What kind of power did all of these objects hold? The cloak and the blade she had seen earlier had been impressive, and they hadn't even been locked away inside the vault. What kind of things required this level of security?

As Cassandra admired the different artifacts, she nearly missed the sly smile on the ghost's face. "Taking an interest in magic now, are we?"

"I have to admit, some of this stuff is pretty cool," Cassandra said. She was now moving up the spiral staircase. "Is there anything else that you think would be useful?"

Zhan Tiri considered the question for a moment. "Yes there certainly is, but we already have everything we need. I'm not sure how much more can fit in that bag of yours."

Cassandra then noticed a mystical green orb that sat alone on one of the shelves. There was something about the object that she found compelling.

"Whoa, what is this thing?" she asked as she reached out for the object. She missed the look of alarm on Zhan Tiri's face.

"Cassandra, don't-"

The ghost's warning came too late. Cassandra touched the orb and the world around her flashed green before it plummeted her into darkness. She struggled and tried to move, but found herself unable. She was falling, spiraling downwards. A few moments later the spinning sensation ended and the darkness around her stabilized. She opened her eyes but still couldn't see anything; it seemed like there was something blocking her vision. She tried to move again and found that her arms were restrained behind her back. What surprised her was the sound of the chains as she moved and struggled to break free, but despite her best efforts she was unable to.

"She's awake," came an unrecognizable voice from nearby. "Don't bother trying to escape."

Escape? What was going on? Cassandra now realized that she could hear the murmur of voices in the background. She was also now noticing how _cold_ it was. It was a chill unlike anything she had ever experienced; it hung in the air around her and seemed to cut down to her bones.

"Remove the prisoner's blindfold. Carefully," another nearby voice piped in. At the command the piece of fabric was ripped away from Cassandra's eyes. The first thing she noticed was how _bright_ the light was and she squinted against it. As her eyes adjusted she took note of her surroundings. They appeared to be in a wooded area near a cliff-side. Everything was covered in a thick blanket of snow that continued to grow as more white flakes descended from the grey skies above. There was a large crowd of people surrounding her full of both the familiar and unfamiliar faces of the people of Corona. The closest person to her was a guard she did not recognize, holding a blindfold in his hands.

To say Cassandra was confused would be an understatement. She had no idea how she ended up here, no idea what in the world was going on. She tried to come up with some kind of memory or logical explanation, but she was drawing a blank.

"Is someone going to explain what's going on, or are you all just going to keep staring?" Cassandra asked dryly. 

"You are here to be tried and convicted as a traitor to Corona," the royal adviser Nigel said as she stepped forward from the crowd. The scowl he gave her was full of hatred which left Cassandra taken aback.

"What are you talking about? I'm not a traitor," Cassandra said defensively. "And what kind of trial is held out in the middle of the woods instead of the castle? It's freezing!" 

Nigel narrowed his eyes. Before he could get a word out, another voice cut in. 

"Don't act like you don't know what you did, lady-in-waiting," Hector said menacingly as he emerged from the crowd, much to the surprise of Cassandra. She grit her teeth at the sight of him.

"You," she growled, "Is this about the Moonstone again? Because I told you, I'm not giving it up."

Hector howled with laughter. "Have you lost your mind? We've already taken it back."

At his words Cassandra looked down in shock to see the opal was no longer in her chest. Much to her horror the black rock armor was gone, replaced by the baby-blue servant gown that she had grown to despise over the years. 

"Wha-," she exclaimed in shock. "H-how? What happened?"

"Do you really not remember?" Cassandra froze at the sound of the all too familiar voice. She watched in stunned silence as Rapunzel took a step forward to join Nigel, Hector, and the nameless guard in front of Cassandra as Eugene, Lance, Adira, and Cassandra's father trailed closely behind her. Rapunzel looked different. It wasn't any singular physical feature that had changed, but rather the expression on her face. Her eyes were _cold_ as she regarded her former friend in front of her, as cold as the winter air that was chilling Cassandra to her core. This was not the warm, compassionate Rapunzel that she knew and loved.

Cassandra couldn't find it within herself to speak just yet, so she shook her head in response.

"You don't remember what you did," Rapunzel said in disbelief. "Look out over Corona and see if that rings a bell."

Cass looked over in the direction the princess had pointed in, over the cliff-side. Out in the distance was Corona...or what was left of it, anyway. It was covered in an incredibly thick blanket of snow, and even from here she could see how the winds raged through the kingdom, the blizzard tearing it apart piece by piece. The land was uninhabitable. Cassandra had only seen something like it once before, about two years ago when a similar blizzard raged through Corona because of-

Horror surged through her when she understood. Zhan Tiri. That blizzard had been caused by Zhan Tiri, and evidently so had this one. She had finally completed what she had set out to do; destroy the kingdom of Corona.

_Cassandra had failed._

"This was never supposed to happen," Cassandra said, mostly to herself. "I don't understand, Zhan Tiri was never supposed to be anywhere near here."

"Who do you think led her here?" Rapunzel shot back in an accusatory tone. "You betrayed me, betrayed _everyone_ in Corona."

"Rapunzel, please, you have to listen to me," Cassandra pleaded. "This is all just a _huge_ misunderstanding. I don't know what happened, I swear I did everything I could to try to stop Zhan Tiri-"

"Bullshit, you're just trying to save your skin," Eugene said with his eyes narrowed.

"Stay out of this, FItzherbert," Cassandra snapped. "I _told_ you that Zhan Tiri was a threat before we even step foot in the Dark Kingdom, and you didn't listen to me. You _never_ listen to me. I had no choice, Rapunzel, I had to try and take care of Zhan Tiri myself."

"That was never your call to make. You should have waited." Rapunzel's words hit her like a slap to the face. 

"Like hell I should've waited, waiting is all I've ever done! If you weren't going to take the threat seriously I had to try myself, I had to take the Moonstone. And if I didn't take the Moonstone before you did, you would be dead."

"You don't know that," Rapunzel snapped in response. "All I know is that what's done is done, and if it weren't for you and your poor judgement I would still have my kingdom and my parents would still be here."

Now that she had called attention to it, she noticed the absence of the king and queen. In fact, the looks of hatred the gathered citizens were giving her suggested that the monarchs were not the only ones lost to Zhan Tiri's vengeance. Cassandra was stunned into silence. Had she really done this? Was all of this really her fault, her failure? Stopping Zhan Tiri was supposed to be her triumph, her moment of glory. It was supposed to be her way of protecting Corona and proving her worth to her kingdom once and for all. Not once had she considered the possibility that she could fail.

"Raps, I-" she started, but stopped when she realized that Rapunzel was not going to listen to anything that she was going to say. It was crystal clear that she had given up on her former friend

One by one Cassandra examined the faces in front of her. She saw the uncharacteristic pain and iciness on Rapunzel's face, the hatred in Eugene's eyes, and the uneasiness in Lance's expression. Finally her eyes fell on her father, but the Captain of the Guards couldn't find it within himself to look his daughter in the eye. He turned away from her, disappointment evident in all of his feature's.

Everything about this situation felt _wrong_ to her. She struggled against the fog in her brain, fighting for some sense of clarity. _This can't be real, this can't be real_.

Why couldn't she remember how she had gotten here? There had to be a reason. The emotions rising in her felt nearly insurmountable, but if she had learned one thing by now is that she had to brave the storm of emotions instead of avoiding them. Otherwise they would eat her alive. Yes she was afraid, yes she was upset, but she had to think through that without it consuming her. She fought through the clouds in her head and tried to remember the last thing she was up to before this. She blocked out the taunts of the displaced townspeople around her. She didn't remember anything about the fall of Corona, that was for certain. But what about leading up to that? She didn't remember even setting foot near the kingdom. She had been doing everything in her power to slow Zhan Tiri down without raising suspicion, what had gone wrong? She was stopping for rests frequently, and she had managed to delay their journey to the Spire by a considerable amount-

The Spire- that was it! Her and Zhan Tiri had made it to the Spire and were looking inside the vault. She remembered admiring the artifacts, Zhan Tiri's stupid boomerang, and a pulsating green light from an orb.

_The orb_. At the thought of it, the world pulsed green around her. The orb had done this, had trapped her here in this literal nightmare. 

"This isn't real," Cassandra breathed, full of relief. None of this was real! She hadn't failed her kingdom, not yet. She had to break out of this imaginary hellscape. "This is all in my head."

"What was that, little miss lady-in-waiting?" Hector asked mockingly.

"I _said_ ," Cassandra said with a feral smile as she leaned forward, "This. Isn't. Real."

With that she broke the chains that bound her arms behind her. She was in full control of the world around her now. She focused on the power that was still hidden deep inside of her, and grinned when she found the Moonstone was returned to her chest. The rock armor snapped back in place around her and she felt her body transform again with the power of the opal. Everyone stumbled back, and Cassandra unleashed a barrage of her rocks in all directions. In response the dream flickered green once until it was replaced by black again. Once again she found herself spiraling as she clawed her way back to consciousness.

She shot up and opened her eyes. Relief filled her when she realized she was back in reality, back in the rocky landscape outside of the Spire with the sun starting to rise on the side of the mountain pass. She wasn't quite sure how she had made it out of the vault and back outside, but was too preoccupied to question it. The memories of what had happened in the Spire's vault come crashing down on her, and she turned to look at Zhan Tiri as she processed the event.

_It wasn't real_ , she reminded herself. Zhan Tiri was still here beside her in an incorporeal form; she hadn't destroyed Corona. Cassandra hadn't failed.

"What. Was. _That?!_ " Cassandra asked, shaking slightly from the experience. Zhan Tiri did not look pleased with her but that didn't matter; she had never been so relieved to see the ghost in her life.

" _That_ was the Cursed Orb of Saporia. Consider yourself lucky that you made it out alive. Next time try asking about an all powerful orb _before_ you touch it." 

Any other time Cassandra would have fired back at the ghost for her remark, but she was uncharacteristically quiet. That was not lost on Zhan Tiri who frowned at the blue-haired woman who sat on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest.

"You're upset," Zhan Tiri commented, lowering herself on the ground beside Cassandra.

"Clearly," she responded dryly.

"The orb has the power to trap you in a nightmare, constructed from your deepest fears, insecurities, and doubts. The only way to escape its power is to keep your darkest emotions from consuming you and recognizing that you are in fact trapped within your own mind. Quite frankly, the fact that you managed to escape it so quickly and without assistance is impressive."

"It felt so real," Cassandra whispered.

"It wouldn't be a nightmare if it hadn't," Zhan Tiri remarked. "What was it that the orb showed you? I can only imagine what kind of terrible things it could have taken from inside your head."

Cassandra laughed once without humor. "What, you actually have to ask? I thought you were in my head."

"I'm no mind-reader, Cassandra," Zhan Tiri said and Cassandra felt immense relief. "You are obviously shaken by whatever you saw, and you should have learned by now that avoiding your feelings only creates problems in the long run."

"What are you, my therapist?"

Zhan Tiri narrowed her eyes. "You're deflecting."

Cassandra sighed. She was right.

"It's just...all my life I've been waiting in the wings. I worked so hard my entire life, training and learning and doing everything I could to be the best warrior Corona had ever seen. And for what? No matter how hard I worked, no matter how many times I tried to prove myself, no one ever gave me the chance. At first I thought Rapunzel did, but then she made it clear how little faith she had in me. And this," she gestured to the opal, "This is supposed to be my chance to prove myself to them once and for all that I'm more than just Rapunzel's lady-in-waiting or just the Captain's daughter. I have always known that I was meant for something bigger, that I'm capable of so many great things, but after everything I saw after touching that stupid orb...what if I'm not? What if they've been right all along, and I'm just some _nobody_ who's way in over her head?" That was the question that was haunting her. In her mind she could still see the kingdom in frozen ruins, the looks on everyone's faces that told her that it was all her fault.

"You are not _nobody_ , Cassandra," Zhan Tiri said firmly, snapping Cassandra out of her thoughts. "For what it's worth, I am sorry that they have made you feel this way. They are fools for ever questioning your worth and your capabilities. You are made for greatness, and with the power of the Moonstone you will make Corona regret ever casting you aside."

"Thanks," was all Cassandra had to say. This felt strange, Zhan Tiri trying to comfort her. There was so much about the ghost that she didn't know, but she was starting to suspect that there was some truth to what she had said previously about her past. For the first time, Cassandra felt as if she was in a position to ask her about it.

“So, while we're on the topic of Corona," she started, and Zhan Tiri looked at her with interest. "I get that you were scorned and all of that, but why exactly are you so hellbent on destroying the kingdom? Something must have happened.”

Zhan Tiri seemed to ponder the question. "I understand that my intentions of destroying Corona can seem quite...extreme, without the proper context given. I suppose I can tell the tale of myself and my dear old friend Demanitus, provided that you are willing to listen and hear me out."

Cassandra was pleasantly surprised. After countless months spent with the ghost, it seemed like she was _finally_ willing to share some information with her. Maybe she would supply the information Cassandra had been looking for.

"Sure. I'm willing to listen to your story so long as you don't give me any of that cryptic, runaround bullshit." Her statement seemed to give the ghost an idea.

“Actually, I can do you one better. You allowed me into your head, so let me allow you into mine.”

Cassandra went to argue that she never "allowed" Zhan Tiri into her head, but before she could do so the world had gone black around her for the second time that day. 


	9. The Sorceress and the Scientist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi all! sorry i didn't get this up as soon as i had hoped (started a new job and it has been A Time), but i wanted to make sure that i put in the time that this chapter deserved. with that said i plan to update this story weekly on sundays (for real this time i promise).   
> i also want to give a big shout out and huge thank you to my friend who put in a lot of effort beta reading this chapter for me  
> enjoy!!

Darkness.

_ Nothingness. _

Cassandra reached out to touch something, anything within this empty void she now found herself in but there was  _ nothing _ . The emptiness was suffocating, weighing heavily on her,, yet still spreading out endlessly in all directions. Panic started to build within her; there was something inherently  _ wrong _ about this place.

"Where am I?" she called out. The sound of her voice had a muffled quality to it, even to her own ears.

"Patience, Cassandra." Zhan Tiri's voice echoed around her from all directions. She couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was coming from and that added to her disorientation.

"Listen, you better-"

Before she could finish her threat, she blinked and suddenly found herself standing in the middle of a verdant wooded area. She could hear the sounds of the forest from the calls of birds to the rushing of water that moved through a nearby stream. She turned around and saw a house that was perched on the edge of the woods. Its exterior was old and decrepit with its windows sealed with rotten boards. She turned again and saw Zhan Tiri standing beside her with a bemused smile. The ghost's composure was infuriating to Cassandra who was already perturbed. The abrupt transition and the whole set-up was eerily familiar and Cassandra was reminded of the time when Zhan Tiri had pulled her back into her own forgotten memories in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow. She realized that she must be literally in Zhan Tiri's head, in her memories.

When she asked Zhan Tiri about her motivations, she was expecting a long-winded monologue about her backstory and history with Demanitus. She didn't think the ghost would accompany it with a full motion picture about her entire life, but here they were. Zhan Tiri was far more melodramatic than Cassandra had originally given her credit for.

"Was this necessary? I've about had it," Cass snapped. 

Zhan Tiri quirked an eyebrow. "My dear, you were in that place for not even thirty seconds. Try staying there for two millennia and we'll talk about having 'had it'."

The ghost's response surprised her.

"That place is your prison?" Cassandra asked in shock. That suffocatingly empty void was where Zhan Tiri had been all of this time? Cass was horrified by the prospect of spending any more time in that nothingness; she couldn't imagine what it would be like to be trapped there for so long.

"Come," Zhan Tiri commanded, ignoring her question. Now that Cass was also incorporeal in this mindscape, Zhan Tiri grabbed Cassandra's hand and led her into the small, decrepit house. They phased right through the front door and Cassandra once again was unsettled by the feeling of being incorporeal. Once inside she looked around at the contents of the house. The inside was just as worn out as the outside. Based on its exterior she would have thought for sure that the place was abandoned, but there was clear evidence that someone was inhabiting it. There were books scattered about along with other random belongings, with a desk pushed unceremoniously into the corner of the room.

Uncertain as to why they were standing in this place, she turned to Zhan Tiri for an explanation.

"The story starts here about two millennia ago when I was growing up in my home kingdom of Saporia," Zhan Tiri began.

"Wait, you're Saporian?" Cassandra asked. For whatever reason, that came as a surprise to her. Zhan Tiri had never seemed entirely human to her, so the prospect of the woman having a normal upbringing in a familiar land was too mundane, too human for her to believe.

"And you're surprised," Zhan Tiri remarked dryly. "This was well over a millennium before any war with Corona, far before the unification of the two kingdoms under Corona's name.

"Even before any war, there was tension between the two kingdoms owing to their many cultural differences. Unlike Corona, where magic was something to be feared, my homeland of Saporia embraced the mystic arts. In fact, users of magic like myself were well respected. You see, my entire life I had studied the ways of magic and I had become a...young scholar of sorts, I was even encouraged to go out into the world in search of it."

At her words, a girl emerged from one of the side rooms. The girl had her back turned to them as she carefully packed items into a bag, handling the scrolls and books with care. Cassandra was reminded of Varian, as the girl appeared to be about his age and seemed to be similarly invested in her studies. She wore a frilly black dress and had her lavender-colored hair tied up neatly into two buns on the top of her head. It didn't click that they were watching a younger Zhan Tiri until the girl turned around and Cassandra saw the same gemstone adorned on her forehead, this time in a vibrant purple instead of the faded blue. Cassandra's eyes widened at the realization; it was so strange to see Zhan Tiri as anything but a blue ghost.

"Even at a young age, I had a talent for sorcery. I had learned much in Saporia, but I was unsatisfied. I knew that I was capable of even greater things. My destiny waited for me outside the confines of my kingdom, so I decided to leave Saporia in search of it."

The landscape around them faded away, replaced with a new one in the time it had taken Cassandra to blink. This time she recognized where they had ended up. They were now inside of the Great Tree, where it stood tall and unruined with vines cascading around its massive interior. Before them stood the heart of the Tree, a familiar spear wedged into it.

"It was here I had found my calling; the Great Tree." She smiled fondly as she looked out at the Tree. Cassandra did not share the sentiment; the sight of the place brought back unpleasant memories. "During my journey I had felt a sense of wrongness as I passed through here, a sense of magic that was longing to be set free. There were others who had silenced the Tree's magic and wedged a spear into it, leaving it defenseless. I took it upon myself to restore the Great Tree to its former glory by removing and destroying the spear. The original spear, that is." Bitterness was evident in her voice.

Cassandra watched as another scene unfolded before them. The younger Zhan Tiri had entered the inside of the Tree, marveling at its majesty with wonder in her eyes. She was a year or two older than she was in the last memory. Cass watched as the girl approached the spear and removed it from the heart of the Tree. The effect was immediate; the Tree's magic came alive, sending out a swarm of vines that pulsed a neon green light. The vines wrapped around Zhan Tiri, ensnaring her, but there was no fear in the teenager's vibrantly purple eyes, only wonder and amazement. The Tree paused, as if recognizing that she was not a threat. Cass watched as the vines began to return the girl to the ground.

"In return for removing the spear, the Tree gave me a home. It was there where I had learned what true magic was, and it was where I truly grew into my power." As Cass watched the Tree come alive around them, she found that she could understand. She could feel the power of the Great Tree pulse around them, a kind of wild, natural magic with power unlike anything she had ever imagined. She could see that there was much to be learned from it.

"But still, I was not content." The scene around them shifted again, but this time the change was more subtle. They were still in the Great Tree, but it was clear that time had passed. Zhan Tiri appeared to be around Cassandra's own age now, and it was clear that her powers had grown. Cassandra walked over and stood behind the young woman as she pored over the contents of a scroll. Cass didn’t recognize the language it was written in, but she did recognize the symbols of the sun and moon that were etched on its top. 

"I knew that other magic laid throughout the land, celestial magic with capabilities beyond that of earthly magic. There were rumors that a single drop of sunlight and a single drop of moonlight had fallen from the heavens, creating sources of magic that had limitless power. I had made it my mission to find these drops of light, and I had set out in search of them."

Without warning the landscape around them changed. The vibrancy and liveliness of the Great Tree was replaced by the grimy interior of a shady pub. Cassandra started to look around and analyze the scene as Zhan Tiri resumed her story.

"In my quest I was relentless. I journeyed everywhere in search of knowledge and spoke with everyone who had heard even the smallest of rumors. Throughout my travels I met countless people and learned valuable things, but there was only one other person I met who rivaled my drive and possessed the same wealth of information as I."

As she observed the pub, Cassandra watched as a nondescript brunette woman finished a conversation with the man sitting beside her and stood up from the bar to leave. Cass wasn't the only one watching the woman leave; there was a man who looked at her with interest and quickly stood up from the bar to follow her out. He was well built and only a few years older than Cassandra. She was concerned for the safety of the woman and went to follow them when Zhan Tiri continued her story.

"It was here where I had met him; Demanitus."

Cassandra turned to Zhan Tiri in surprise. "That's Demanitus?"

Zhan Tiri nodded once, both in confirmation and to encourage her to keep watching. The two of them trailed behind Demanitus as he followed the woman outside. The woman finally seemed to notice that she was followed out and she paused in the middle of the path.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked without turning around. Cassandra recognized the melodic, bell-like quality of the voice; it was the same voice that she had been listening to for months on end.

"I think we can help each other," Demanitus said, the deep tone of his voice filled with certainty.

The woman turned around and looked at him in amusement, a familiar expression on an unfamiliar face.

"I know who you are and why you are here," he said confidently. "The man you just spoke with knows nothing about the Sundrop. Everything he shared with you is misinformation."

"If you know who I am, then you should know that I've already figured out as much," she said with a dangerous smile. There was a brief moment where purple light shimmered around the woman's figure, and when the light faded her appearance had changed. This was now the Zhan Tiri that Cassandra had come to recognize, with her lavender hair partially tied up in two buns while the rest cascaded down past her shoulders. Demanitus did not look surprised by the transformation, but he did look impressed.

"I have the information you seek, and I think you have information that can help me as well," Demanitus said simply as he offered a friendly smile. Zhan Tiri seemed to consider that statement for a moment before agreeing to speak with him. Cass watched as the two of them walked back inside the pub for another drink and a chat, Zhan Tiri casually shifting into a new disguise before passing through the doorway.

"That night we spoke at length and forged our partnership. He was a Coronan, a few years older than I. It turned out that he was also in search of the Sundrop and Moonstone, and we realized that we would have more success if we combined our efforts and worked together. He was a man of science, and I a woman of magic. Together, we made an excellent team, exploring the world in an attempt to unlock its mysteries. We uncovered countless legends and were close to locating both the Sundrop and the Moonstone. He shared my drive and my passion but had a different perspective than my own, which meant we complemented each other well in our quest."

The imagery around them changed as Zhan Tiri spoke, shifting as time passed. Cass saw snippets of the adventures of the sorceress and the scientist, and there was no denying the camaraderie between the two. The expression on the past Zhan Tiri's face was one Cassandra had not seen before; while the hunger and ambition in her eyes was familiar, she also looked excited and  _ happy. _

The more she watched the snippets of their quest the less Cassandra felt the need to ask Zhan Tiri who exactly Demanitus was to her. The scene before her now was of the two of them tinkering around in what she assumed to be Demanitus's lab. The past Zhan Tiri paused to watch Demanitus as he worked with laser focus on the device in front of him, and Cass recognized the way she looked at the scientist. The soft expression was one that she herself had probably given Raps countless times. It was clear that Demanitus had truly meant something to Zhan Tiri.

"He meant something to you, huh?" Cassandra asked, looking at her present day companion for confirmation.

Zhan Tiri's expression soured. Cass recognized that look too; clearly whatever the sorceress had felt was unrequited.

The scene shifted again, and suddenly they were back at the Great Tree. As Cassandra looked around she noticed that the younger Zhan Tiri was not alone here. Demanitus was nearby transcribing something in his research journal, but more interestingly Zhan Tiri was on the other side of the room accompanied by three other people . It appeared as if the sorceress was doing a demonstration of her magic, channeling her purple energy and the green energy of the Great Tree to grow vines and control their movements. Zhan Tiri had stopped demonstrating and one of the two young women tried to replicate what she had done, but the young woman was unsuccessful. After her attempt she turned to Zhan Tiri in awe and newfound respect.

"Demanitus and I had worked tirelessly for many long years. Eventually we had brought on three pupils to assist us with our work," Zhan Tiri explained and the scene in front of them had made more sense. With a start, Cass realized that she recognized the three pupils. The woman who had attempted to recreate Zhan Tiri's spell was the painter lady and the first of Zhan Tiri's disciples that she had ever encountered. The man standing beside her with a relaxed look on his face was Matthews, the disciple that had tried to trap them in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow. The last of the trio was a woman with raven black hair with her arms crossed against her chest and a bored, unpleasant look on her face. Her resemblance to Cassandra was uncanny. Cassandra's jaw dropped at the sight.

"Is that my-"

"Your mother, yes. Gothel," Zhan Tiri said with a smirk.

Cassandra was horrified. "You're telling me that my mother was  _ two thousand years old _ ?" She had heard the stories that Gothel had been alive for a very long time, but she had no idea that the woman had been alive for  _ two millennia _ when she had given birth to Cassandra. She was also astounded that her mother had been a disciple of Zhan Tiri, trained by the very same sorceress that was now coaching Cassandra. The irony was not lost on her. 

Zhan Tiri laughed at Cassandra's reaction. "Yes. Your mother was one of my disciples. After my imprisonment, Gothel went out on her own and completed the research we had started on the Sundrop. Using what we had learned she had managed to find the flower and used it to obtain immortality. She was a clever and talented woman, much like yourself, but she was also one of the most selfish and egotistical people I had ever met. She was felled by her own ego and driven by the idea of staying young and beautiful forever."

A quiet wrath burned within Cass as she stared at the woman who abandoned her so many years ago, who had ingrained the lesson in her that love and respect were conditional. If it was possible to have skewered Gothel with one of her rocks right now, she would have done it.

"What's the deal with the other two?" Cass asked as she gestured to the other disciples, itching to switch the conversation away from her mother.

"Ah yes, Sugracha and Tromus," Zhan Tiri said with a fond smile. "My two most loyal disciples. Demanitus and I had selected our pupils based on their intellect, potential, and commitment to our cause. All three of them were exceedingly talented and driven. While Gothel was driven by her vanity, Sugracha and Tromus shared my ambition and interest in magic. With their help, we managed to progress in our research and compiled all of the information we uncovered on the lore of the Sundrop and Moonstone. We had yet to learn where these drops of light were located, but that would change."

Before the world around her shifted again Cassandra noticed something strange, a small detail that would have been easy to miss. Sugracha attempted another spell and it pulsed purple, sending a flash of brilliant purple light in all directions. Everything was illuminated for a brief moment, causing everything in the room to cast a shadow. Instead of her silhouette, Zhan Tiri’s shadow was horned and monstrous. It was the confirmation Cassandra had been looking for, proof that the woman before her was not entirely human. Maybe she had been once before, but evidently that was no longer the case. The memories she had chosen to share with Cassandra were cherry-picked, carefully selected to humanize and build empathy. 

The shadow disappeared as quickly as it came, the surroundings of the Great Tree replaced by a wooded area outside another shady old pub. The two of them watched as the younger Zhan Tiri and Demanitus rode up horseback to the pub. Cassandra noticed that Demanitus had aged considerably, and his left eye was now replaced with a metal patch. Zhan Tiri still looked very much the same, a picture of the ghost that floated beside her but not in blue. 

Past Zhan Tiri and Demanitus dismounted and walked into the pub as present day Zhan Tiri grabbed Cassandra's hand, pulling her inside. They followed the duo to the darkened back corner of the pub where they had sat across the table from a cloaked woman. 

"This is where the game had changed," Zhan Tiri explained. "We had heard rumors of a secret kingdom built entirely from celestial black rocks. Those rumors led us to her, a defector from the Brotherhood. It was a younger organization at the time, a century old instead of millennia. This was our first real lead on either of the drops."

Cassandra took a closer look at the woman. It was hard to discern her expression as she wore a hooded cloak, but eventually Cass could make out how nervous the woman looked. She clutched a mug of ale between her hands and Cassandra recognized the mark of the Brotherhood tattooed on her hand. Though Cass could not hear the whispered conversation, she could gauge by the expression on all of their faces that whatever information the defector shared was clearly valuable.

"She had told us everything she knew about her kingdom and the Moonstone, sparing no detail about the opal and its destructive and limitless power. She told us about its capabilities and shared details on just how many had perished trying to destroy the opal or attempting to take it for themselves. While she had given us information on the opal itself, she did not share how to reach the Dark Kingdom. She warned us to give up our quest, that it would only end in death and destruction. But that was no matter; she had still given us more than enough information to move on with our quest."

The meeting ended and the mysterious woman departed. Zhan Tiri moved to the opposite side of the table, eyes glowing in excitement. The expression on Demanitus's face did not match hers. He looked unsettled by what the former member of the Brotherhood had said. He voiced his concerns about the Moonstone and its destructive history, but Zhan Tiri was unbothered. As they left Demanitus looked unnerved, as if he was seeing his dear friend in a whole new light.

The ghost beside her smiled sadly as she watched. "I did not realize it at the time, but this was the beginning of the end."

The scene shifted again and they were now standing outside a house in the outskirts of Corona. Past Zhan Tiri was walking back into the house, and present day Zhan Tiri grabbed Cassandra's hand and guided her inside. After phasing through the door and seeing a laboratory set up, she deduced that this house must have belonged to Demanitus.

"We had started planning for our journey to the Dark Kingdom, but my dear old friend had doubts. He was unsettled by the defector's anecdotes about the Moonstone's destructive power and was having second thoughts about our plan to take the Moonstone. You see, Demanitus and I were equally dedicated to our quest but our motivations were fundamentally different. Where he was driven by his insatiable curiosity and need to explain the unexplainable, I was driven by my own goal of mastering all forms of magic." She looked over at Cassandra and noticed the judgmental look on her face. "Now mind you, I had no interest in waging wars or destroying kingdoms. I simply wanted to be the best at my craft, like you want to be the best at yours.

"My ambition had never bothered him before, but this fundamental difference in our motivations introduced tension into our partnership."

Past Zhan Tiri walked back into the house and saw Demanitus absorbed in his work. She walked past him and noticed that he was studying a map, and upon closer inspection she noticed it was the map they had been looking for, the map that could lead them to the Dark Kingdom.

“I see you found it!” Zhan Tiri exclaimed excitedly. The excitement quickly faded when Demanitus pulled the map away from her.

Cassandra recognized the look of distrust in his eyes; it was the same expression she had seen directed at her by Rapunzel and Eugene on more than a few occasions. Clearly this was where things really started to go south.

"What was that for?" Zhan Tiri asked with a wounded expression.

Demanitus looked pained. "Zhan Tiri, before we go any further I need to ask you what business you have with the Moonstone."

"What kind of question is that?" Zhan Tiri asked incredulously. "My business is the same as it has always been."

"Yes, you want to know everything there is to know about magic. What I want to know is what you intend to do with the Moonstone's power."

"You know my intentions are to learn from its power."

"And to control its power," Demanitus added, and Zhan Tiri couldn't deny that. "Yet you still want to use that power, even after everything the defector told us? You heard just as well as I did of its destructive ability."

"Are you saying you're having second thoughts about finding the Moonstone?" Zhan Tiri asked seriously.

"No, I still intend for us to set out and finish this quest that we have started. There is still much left to understand. What I am saying is that we should not attempt to take the moondrop for ourselves. Perhaps it is best if its powers are left alone."

Zhan Tiri voiced her disagreement and insisted that they should still take it, that it was the only way to know exactly what the Moonstone was capable of. Finally they reached an agreement, deciding to head out on the journey first and delaying the final decision on what to do with the opal until they reached the Dark Kingdom. Both seemed satisfied with the compromise, but there was still some lingering tension.

"I had realized our relationship had become quite tense after this conversation, but I truly believed that once we started on our journey it would have dissipated. We were both headstrong individuals so heated arguments were not uncommon. Foolishly, I believed that this was one such argument that would be forgotten once we had set our minds on the journey. Which brings us to the next part of the story; the day we were to set out for the Dark Kingdom."

Cassandra blinked and the scenery around her shifted again. She recognized the setting as the outer wall of Corona. Past Zhan Tiri was nearby, pacing impatiently as she waited for something. She had a bag of her belongings, clearly prepared for the long journey to the Dark Kingdom. The woman perked up when she noticed Demanitus arriving.

Cass turned to present day Zhan Tiri looking for her to supplement the memory with her narration, but the ghost's gaze was fixed on the ground. She noticed Cassandra staring.

“I believe this memory speaks for itself.”

With that, Cassandra turned back to the scene that was about to unfold before them.

"Are we all set, my dear?" Zhan Tiri asked Demanitus as he approached, looking eager to begin their journey. Demanitus clearly did not share the enthusiasm. He looked uncomfortable as he approached his long time friend. 

"I'm afraid not," Demanitus said, refusing to meet Zhan Tiri's eyes. She frowned. There was something off about his behavior and it was not lost on her.

"What is the issue?"

Demanitus was rummaging through his messenger bag now. Before he had the chance to respond she heard a shout come from behind her.

"That's her! That's the witch!"

Zhan Tiri turned around to see a handful of Coronan guards charging in her direction, swords drawn. She rolled her eyes; this wasn't the first time guards had come after her. Sorcery was a crime in Corona, and she had been reported on more than one occasion while visiting Demanitus here. Everything about her appearance screamed "Saporian" and "magic" to the residents of the kingdom, many of whom were not keen on either one of those things. She knew she should have disguised herself, but in her defense Demanitus had kept her waiting longer than she anticipated. Dealing with the guards would be annoying, but it would be simple. 

"Well this is not ideal timing," Zhan Tiri said irritably. As she went to reach her arms out in front of her to defend herself, Cassandra watched as Demanitus pulled out a cloth and a small piece of glassware from his bag. He held the cloth to his nose and mouth as he slammed the glassware on the ground directly behind Zhan Tiri, blue vapor breaking free from inside it. At the sound of glass shattering Zhan Tiri turned around. She coughed as she breathed in the blue vapor. All it took was one look at the expression on his face to understand what was happening. The guards descending upon them was not a coincidence;  _ Demanitus _ had been the one to report her this time. Demanitus had betrayed her.

"You set this up," Zhan Tiri choked out in between her coughs, the expression on her face filled with utter betrayal. "Why? What have I done to you to deserve this?"

Demanitus looked equal parts pained and resolved. "I am sorry, Zhan Tiri. But you left me with no choice. I cannot allow that power to fall into your hands."

Before she could respond, whatever compound Demanitus unleashed started to have its effect. With one final cough Zhan Tiri collapsed. Demanitus stepped forward to catch her before she could hit the ground, his expression grave. He nodded once at the Coronan guards as he hefted Zhan Tiri's unconscious body over his shoulder, following them as they walked in the direction of the castle.

Cassandra found herself speechless. She turned to look at present day Zhan Tiri beside her and found that her characteristic composure had broken. She looked equal parts enraged and heartbroken as she watched the memory played out before them, a feeling that Cassandra understood. She couldn’t believe that the sorceress had allowed her to see all of this. This entire experience was so unlike anything she had ever expected from the cryptic ghost. What had changed between them that Zhan Tiri was now willing to share her vulnerabilities with Cassandra? Was this some kind of ploy to manipulate her further like she had originally suspected, or was she genuinely looking to be heard and understood? At this point Cassandra suspected it was a mixture of both.

They sat there in silence for a moment until Zhan Tiri regained enough of her composure to continue.

"So you see, in his first attempt to imprison me he had turned me in to the Coronan guard for witchcraft. They took me to the dungeons after taking precautionary measures to disable my powers. That knowledge was provided courtesy of Demanitus, of course." Her smile was bitter as she spoke and her eyes were filled with a quiet wrath. She did not share what that knowledge was nor did she show any memory of the dungeon. Instead the landscape around them shifted again and Cassandra found them standing at a place she recognized but did not remember fondly. Even two millennia ago Janus Point looked the same, albeit less...ruined. The tree still remained firmly in its center, but the columns surrounding the hallowed ground were considerably more intact. 

"Thankfully once our pupils had discovered what had happened, they turned on Demanitus and came to my aid. That was unsurprising to me, of course. Demanitus had foolishly believed that our pupils had joined in our quest because of their curiosity and passion for learning. That man understood many things, but he did not understand people, not like I do. I had recognized they were after power and immortality for their own personal gain, but that was no matter. They were useful and had potential, so I trained them anyway. I was the one that had given them the power they so desperately wanted, and the fact that their power was tied to my own ensured they remained loyal to me. So they had helped me escape Corona's prison and pledged their allegiance to me, breaking ties with Demanitus and becoming my disciples."

Cassandra noticed that there were a group of people approaching. When she turned to look she saw that the memory version of Zhan Tiri was striding forward with the most vengeful and terrifying expression on her face, the three disciples following in her wake. They got to work immediately and started setting up a ritual around the tree. Cassandra watched in an attempt to figure out what was going on, but didn't understand until she felt the temperature plummet. She flinched as the memory of her earlier nightmare resurfaced. 

"After my escape I wanted to send a message to Corona and to Demanitus that they had made a grave mistake by imprisoning me, so I had unleashed a powerful blizzard on the kingdom. I wanted to show them who they were dealing with, and there would be no mercy."

True to her word, the scene before them was anything but merciful. The blizzard ramped up from innocent flurries to a monster of a storm in a matter of minutes. The winds raged as snow fell in heavy sheets from the heavens above, every piece of the storm directed at her command. Cassandra watched past Zhan Tiri direct the blizzard in a mix of awe and horror. There was no mistake that this was a  _ powerful _ woman.

"Unfortunately, this first attempt to destroy Corona was foiled by my dear friend Demanitus, as you are aware. The curse I had unleashed would lay dormant until Corona was at its weakest, which was when your precious princess was left in charge of it," she said with a pointed smirk.

"I went to find Demanitus and confront him. I had searched all over for my dear old friend, and eventually I found him at his chamber in the mountains."

At her words the scene changed again to another snow-filled landscape. Now they were high up in the mountains outside of Corona, the walls of a massive, intricate chamber built into its side. Demanitus stood in front of the chamber with a small monkey perched on his shoulder. There was some kind of large, metal contraption that he had built that stood behind him, a lever by his hand. He seemed to have anticipated the arrival of his former friend.

Past Zhan Tiri stormed down the snowy mountain pass with a vengeful expression. She stopped when she saw Demanitus standing there and the look she gave him was downright venomous.

"My dear Demanitus, surely you knew better than to believe the dungeons of your precious kingdom could contain me," Zhan Tiri said, every word dripping with venom. 

"Zhan Tiri, this is your last warning. Give up this foolish quest for power," Demanitus said as he stared back at the sorceress with a steely gaze and a firm resolve.

"This quest for the Sundrop and Moonstone was  _ both _ of ours," she countered, rage building in her features.

"It was, until you made it about something darker. You made it all about gaining power for yourself. You turned your back on what was right!" Demanitus shouted, pointing at her in indignation.

"And you turned your back on me!" Zhan Tiri shouted back, her voice cracking on the last word. "Don't pretend that I've hidden my intentions from you all of these years, I have wanted the same thing since the moment  _ you _ first approached  _ me _ about working together to find the drops. And you should know that as long as I live, I will never stop until I have that power."

"I know," Demanitus said, his composure cracking only slightly.

It happened so quickly. With a nod from Demanitus the monkey jumped from his shoulder and ran for shelter. Demanitus then pushed the lever forward, bringing his machine to life. The spinning part of the contraption reminded Cassandra of the Demanitus Device, and as the piece started to speed up, erupting with blue sparks, it opened a portal in the center of the giant metal ring. The portal pulsed with blue light and pulled in everything in front of it with incredible force like a powerful vacuum. Pieces of trees and piles of snow were sucked inside, and soon enough it was dragging Zhan Tiri in as well.

The woman's expression shifted to abject horror as she saw what was happening. Before she could be pulled completely inside of the portal she grabbed the outside of its metal frame, resisting its pull for as long as she could.

"This is far from over!" she cried out, looking at Demanitus in utter hatred and vengeance as she fought against the portal. "I  _ will _ have that power, and when I do, I  _ will _ destroy your beloved Corona. I  _ promise _ you."

And with that Zhan Tiri was pulled completely into the portal. Demanitus pulled the lever back into its original position as he looked at the portal with a pained expression.

Cassandra blinked and found the world around her had been plunged into darkness. She blinked again and she suddenly found herself back in the familiar rocky landscape outside of the Spire, and with a start she realized she was back in reality. The abrupt transition left her with a feeling of whiplash, which made it difficult to process all of the information that was just dumped on her.

She turned to look at the ghost next to her, who was watching Cass with an unreadable expression. Cassandra found herself speechless. She had no idea what to say to her after watching all of that, and in all honestly, Cassandra would be lying if she said that she didn’t have some amount of sympathy for the woman.

"That portal led me to the prison that I am now trapped in," Zhan Tiri continued with a bitter expression. "As you saw briefly it is a purgatory-like realm devoid of everything and anything. Over time I had managed to gain some awareness of what was happening beyond this void, but I was unable to do anything. My disciples have made countless attempts to free me over the millennia, but each attempt failed. That was, until the Sundrop's ragtag team was foolish enough to seek out shelter from a storm in one of my domains." 

Cassandra clenched her teeth at the reminder. She remembered warning everyone that staying at the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow had been a  _ horrible _ idea, but had they listened to her? No. It was another one of Rapunzel's reckless decisions that had cost her nothing and Cassandra everything. 

"Tromus had planned to trap the Sundrop forever in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow. As I am sure you remember, the House is a special kind of place. Its power was tied to Tromus, whose power is tied to my own. Every person who accepts an invitation into the House is likewise inviting Tromus and myself into their minds for as long as their stay lasts. Every thought, every memory in your minds was available to us to browse and use," she explained with a sinister smile. Cassandra felt incredibly unsettled.

"In an attempt to free me from my prison, Tromus used this to his advantage to trap the princess in her own mind as he drained the Sundrop's power. While he did not succeed entirely, he had managed to collect just enough power from the Sundrop to allow myself to project out a part of my essence from this other realm. That is when I encountered you, my dear Cassandra. You were unlike the rest of those fools. You were clever, talented, and had ambition, much like myself. I recognized your potential for hosting the Moonstone, but saw that you would not claim your destiny unless you severed your ties to the friends who unfairly held you down. So I called out to you in the hopes that you would allow me to guide you to your destiny. You answered my call, allowed me in, and the rest is history."

"I didn't allow you in," Cassandra countered. "All I did was walk through some stupid door and then I was stuck with you." 

Zhan Tiri responded with a chiding laugh. "My dear, I could not have latched myself on to you if you did not allow me in. Believe it or not, when you answered my call and stepped through that door, you willingly accepted me into your head."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Cassandra asked point blank. The amused smile returned to the ghost's face.

"My dear, you're the one who asked what I had against the kingdom of Corona. I was simply answering your question. And now that I have shown you all that I have, do you understand why I intend to strike back against Corona?"

"I do," Cassandra said. It wasn't hard to understand why the sorceress was after vengeance, not after she had seen who Demanitus was to her and what he had done. Cassandra wasn't sure if she would have reacted any differently if their positions had switched.

"I told you, we are more alike than you know."

"Fine. Maybe we are," Cassandra admitted begrudgingly. Zhan Tiri seemed satisfied with her response. 

Zhan Tiri reached out and grabbed her hand tightly. "I am aware that I have left you with a lot of information to process. Take your time, and when you feel rested we will move forward in our journey."

With those parting words the ghost vanished, leaving Cassandra alone to collect her thoughts. She didn't like that she was starting to see Zhan Tiri as an actual person and less of a....whatever the hell she was. Tragic backstory or not, this was a powerful sorceress who was hellbent on destroying her  _ home _ , the place that she was duty-bound to protect. She couldn't lose sight of that important fact, or else she would lose this game.

Cassandra laid down her head to rest, but before she could slip into unconsciousness she shot up as she came to a startling realization.

Zhan Tiri had grabbed her hand at multiple points during their trip down memory lane, but that last physical contact did not take place in Zhan Tiri's mindscape. It had happened here, in physical reality. The gravity of the situation crashed over Cassandra as she realized it must have been Zhan Tiri herself that carried her unconscious body out of the Spire's vault earlier. 

Zhan Tiri's grip on the physical world was getting stronger.

Cassandra was running out of time. 


	10. Return to Corona

Corona.

It had been a long time since Cassandra had last seen her home. A familiar, pleasant breeze blew through her hair as she stood at the edge of the woods overlooking the wide body of water that separated the central island of Corona from the mainland. Owl was perched on a nearby branch watching Cassandra while she took in the sight of the castle looming in the distance. It was hard to believe that she was returning home after all of this time. Though she wished she could have returned under better circumstances, she wasn't left with much of a choice. 

When Zhan Tiri informed her that the next destination on their journey was Corona, Cassandra didn't protest. How could she, when this whole situation was getting increasingly out of hand? Zhan Tiri was regaining her grip on the physical world, and Cassandra strongly suspected it was only a matter of time before she broke out of her prison entirely. 

With that in mind, stalling wasn't an option anymore. Cass had spent  _ months _ alone with the ghost, and yet she had made zero progress in forming a plan to stop Zhan Tiri. Though, it wasn't for lack of trying. She pored through all of the research she collected from the Spire in hopes it could give her an idea, but all of it was written in that  _ stupid _ language that she couldn’t understand for the life of her. With the ghost hovering over her shoulder nearly every hour of every day, it wasn't like she could be overt about looking for a way to foil Zhan Tiri's plans. Cassandra couldn't risk Zhan Tiri thinking that she was actively plotting against her, and Cass was terrified of what the sorceress was capable of both manipulation-wise and magic-wise, even in this semi-incorporeal form. 

The only information Cassandra had to go off of was the memories Zhan Tiri had shared with her. Demanitus had figured out a way to imprison her using that portal, so Cassandra was convinced there had to be a way to rebuild that portal and imprison her once again. However, Cassandra had no idea how to build such a device and even if she did, she wouldn't be able to build it under Zhan Tiri's watchful eye. 

Even worse, Cassandra found herself having...doubts. After seeing firsthand the hellish, empty void that was Zhan Tiri's eternal prison, Cass was reluctant to send her back to such a place. But right now she had no other choice and no other ideas. She couldn't let herself feel sympathetic, not with her kingdom's safety on the line. Cass had to end this, and as much as she hated to admit, it was looking like she might need help after all.

What kind of help that was? Cassandra had no idea. If she couldn't find any research on her own that could point to a solution to her Zhan Tiri problem, it was looking like she would need the help of another person, someone who wasn't under Zhan Tiri's constant surveillance. But who could she even ask? Rapunzel wasn't an option. Even if Cass could find a covert way to communicate the trial she was facing, she didn't think the princess would take the threat seriously, not after the way she dismissed the issue of Zhan Tiri the first time. Cass was also afraid that Rapunzel would throw caution to the wind and make another reckless decision that would have disastrous consequences for all involved. And if Cassandra was being completely honest, she wanted to prove to Rapunzel once and for all what she was capable of and that she should have  _ never _ questioned Cassandra's judgement.

So, who else could she ask for help? She couldn't ask Eugene or Lance because they would tell Rapunzel. She also couldn't ask her father or any of the guards. While they were well equipped to deal with more regular matters of security, they most certainly were not trained in how to deal with threats of the more...magical variety. 

Cassandra sighed. This was going to be far more challenging than she originally anticipated.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cass noticed Zhan Tiri reappear and braced herself for whatever was coming next. During the journey to Corona, Cassandra didn't even bother pestering the ghost for answers about what she intended to do when they arrived. Quite frankly, Cassandra didn't want to know because she figured she wouldn't like it. Either way, she doubted that Zhan Tiri would share that information anyway given her cryptic tendencies.. 

"Alright, we're here. What's the plan?" Cassandra asked as she turned toward the ghost, hoping that the next step in her plan wasn't anything drastic. Zhan Tiri smiled as she looked out over Corona with an unreadable look.

"We are here to collect the Demanitus Scroll," Zhan Tiri responded simply. That was not what Cass was expecting to hear. 

"You mean the scroll with the incantations on it?" Cass asked, confused. She couldn't fathom what Zhan Tiri wanted with the scroll, not after going out of their way to collect the copy of the third incantation. "What's the point? We already have the third incantation." 

Zhan Tiri smiled cryptically. “Yes, we do already have the third incantation. However, the Demanitus Scroll contains  _ all _ of the incantations, including a fourth incantation for accessing the complete power of the Sundrop."

“A  _ fourth _ incantation," Cassandra repeated in disbelief. That felt like too important a piece of information for Zhan Tiri to neglect sharing. "And you’re only mentioning this now because?”

“I’ve had a change of heart," Zhan Tiri said with a cryptic smile. "I’ve decided that I trust you.”

Cassandra was certain that her expression betrayed how baffling she found the statement. Was she serious? "A horrible decision, really."

Zhan Tiri laughed off her response. "You really are delightful, Cassandra. You have proven yourself time and time again, and it's only fair that in return I put some faith in your judgement."

Although those were the words Cassandra so desperately wanted to hear, this was the last person she wanted to hear them from. She wasn't sure if Zhan Tiri was being genuine or trying to manipulate her, and Cass really wasn't sure which possibility bothered her more. It was time to steer the conversation away from wherever this was going.

"Great. Fantastic. So we need the fourth incantation. Does this newfound 'trust' mean you're going to tell me what the point of the fourth incantation  _ is _ , or are you going to keep me guessing? In case you forgot I have the Moonstone, not the Sundrop."

"It's not for  _ you _ to use, my dear. We must translate the incantation and make Rapunzel use it," Zhan Tiri explained.

"What? Why?" Cassandra's head was starting to spin. Every sentence the ghost said generated more questions than answers. "Ugh. For the sake of my sanity,  _ please _ just explain what the point of all this is."

"The point of all of this is to release me from my prison, of course," Zhan Tiri said with a sinister smile. Cassandra froze as she continued speaking. "Such a task requires a significant amount of energy, the likes of which can be generated through the clash of sun and moon. Therefore, we must translate the fourth incantation and make the princess use the power of the Sundrop against you in battle."

Cassandra laughed once without humor. "You really don't know anything about Rapunzel, do you? She won't fight me."

“I’m certain you’ll figure something out,” Zhan Tiri said confidently. 

"So what, you want me to just show up at the castle and just start swinging?" Cassandra asked sarcastically. 

"No, this endeavor requires a little more...finesse. For this confrontation we must draw the Sundrop out of her kingdom to a stronghold of your own design, such that she faces you alone. It is not time to face all of Corona just yet," Zhan Tiri said cryptically. She offered no explanation as to why she was waiting to strike against Corona, which bothered Cassandra. That meant there was something else Zhan Tiri had planned that Cassandra was not privy to.

"With all due respect, I don't understand why you're waiting." 

"Patience, Cassandra. First you must free me from my prison, and then we can talk about what is to follow.

Cassandra finally understood what was happening; this was a proving. If she complied with Zhan Tiri's instructions and successfully freed the sorceress from her otherworldly prison, it would prove to her that Cassandra was loyal and could be trusted with more delicate information. The time for blindly following Zhan Tiri around was up; this was the point where Cassandra had to either commit fully to Zhan Tiri's plan or take a stand against her. Unfortunately, that wasn't much of a choice considering that Cassandra still had no idea how to stop her. Even if she continued to stall, she figured it was still a matter of time until Zhan Tiri regained her grasp on the physical world all on her own. At least if she helped to free Zhan Tiri and saw this task through to the end, she could win over the ghost's trust and finally get the pertinent information she needed. If she played this right, that could give her the perfect opportunity to turn the tables on Zhan Tiri later on. 

Cassandra came to her decision; she would go along with Zhan Tiri's plan. Afterall, she was just speeding up the inevitable. 

"Fine. In that case, the first thing we're going to need is information." Cassandra turned toward Owl who sat perched on a branch next to her. "Owl, could you scout what's going on in Corona?"

Owl hooted once in affirmation before flying off towards the island. They stood there for awhile as Owl collected information from Corona, and after about an hour or so he returned carrying a flyer between his claws. Cass grabbed the paper and reached out her left arm for Owl to perch on. 

"Thanks, Owl. What'd you find?" Cass opened the piece of paper in her hand and frowned. That couldn't be right; it was a flyer advertising a series of events for the lantern festival. It couldn't be Rapunzel's birthday already, could it?

As if in response to her question, Cass watched as hundreds of paper lanterns steadily rose out of the kingdom. Cassandra couldn't believe it; had it really been two years since she was last in Corona? She knew that she had been stuck with Zhan Tiri for a long time now, but she didn't realize it had been almost a  _ full year _ since she took the Moonstone. Staring out at the kingdom, she wondered how much had changed since the last time she saw Rapunzel. How she wished her surprise birthday visit was under better circumstances.

"Huh. Looks like we're crashing the afterparty."

* * *

Passing through Corona under the cover of night was easy, especially now that Cassandra had the cloak from the Spire to disguise herself. The large crowds allowed her to slip by completely unnoticed and provided the perfect cover for sneaking onto the castle grounds. From there, it was incredibly simple work getting inside the castle itself. No one knew the layout of the tunnel system quite like Cassandra, so she quickly passed through them and ended up in one of the castle’s long, winding corridors disguised as one of the other handmaidens. 

Cass reached Rapunzel's room without incident. She cracked open the door and quickly slipped inside the room. As expected, the room was dark and unoccupied. Rapunzel was probably still participating in the festivities and wouldn't return for at least another half hour. Cassandra walked around the room, lighting the candles and fireplace as she looked at the paintings that covered nearly every inch of the walls. It felt as if she had walked into a time capsule. Nearly everything about Rapunzel's room was still the same as it was two years ago. The only change was the paintings on the wall, which were always in a constant state of flux anyway. 

She found herself wondering not for the first time what Rapunzel had been up to since the last time they had seen each other in the Dark Kingdom. There was never a dull moment in the princess's life, that much was certain. What kind of adventures had she been up to this past year? Had she changed at all? How would she react to seeing Cassandra after all of this time?

Cass took a closer look at the paintings on the wall in the hopes she could find some answers. Each portrait was one of Rapunzel’s treasured memories, and Cassandra found that she recognized a fair number of them from their year-long adventures on the caravan. Among the paintings included a scene of Hookfoot and Serafina huddled together side by side, a depiction of Pascal as the god the residents of Terapi Island believed him to be, and even a detailed picture of the shell-like exterior of the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow. There was an overwhelming number of paintings, but what captured Cassandra's attention the most was the one remaining blank spot. Whatever was there previously had been completely painted over with white paint. On closer inspection, she noticed this blank spot was bordered by a painting of Owl. 

Cassandra was struck by a realization; there was no trace of her in  _ any _ of the paintings. Not with the caravan, not in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, not even side by side with Owl. That stung, especially considering Rapunzel incorporated nearly everyone she ever met into the murals on her wall. Hell, even  _ Varian _ was in a large number of her paintings, both in a positive light as a smiling kid and in a negative light alongside his automatons in a depiction of the Battle of Old Corona. Meanwhile Cassandra was just...missing entirely. It was as if she had been erased completely from Rapunzel's life. 

"It's like I never existed," Cass whispered to herself. Her absence spoke volumes. As much as it hurt her to see that Rapunzel had erased her, for the first time she had to consider just how badly she had hurt Rapunzel by taking the Moonstone and leaving so abruptly. Clearly Cassandra's supposed betrayal had deeply affected her. 

Desperate to see if Rapunzel had held on to any reminders of their friendship, Cassandra started to snoop through her belongings. After checking a few drawers, she climbed one of the bookshelves and discovered some items that were hidden on the top shelf in one of Rapunzel’s reading nooks. Besides one of the small piles of books, Cassandra found their old pair of friendship bracelets...alongside the headdress to her handmaiden outfit. Cassandra grit her teeth at the sight of it. Cassandra hated those handmaiden outfits with every fiber of her being, both for how restricting they were and what they represented. It bothered her that the headdress was the item Rapunzel had chosen to remember her by. Maybe Rapunzel hadn't changed at all since the conclusion of their caravan journey.

"Now you see clearly what your beloved princess thinks of you," Zhan Tiri said, noticing the scowl on the young woman's face. Cassandra jumped. She had forgotten that she wasn't entirely alone. 

Before she could respond, she heard the sound of distant laughter echoing down the hallway. She jumped down from the bookshelf and stared back at Zhan Tiri.

"Stay out of this one. I'll handle this myself," she warned the ghost before turning toward the windowsill. In one swift motion she opened the window and sat down casually on the cushioned bench in front of it. She took a deep breath as the sound of voices moved closer, bracing herself for the approaching encounter.

Cassandra could now pick out the sound of individual voices as they approached Rapunzel's room. Lance was loudly sharing a story, and the group was laughing in response. Abruptly, the sound of Eugene's laughter cut off and the sound of footsteps followed suit. "Hey, Blondie? Is there a reason that there's light coming from your room?"

"Um not that I can think of, but I'm sure it's fine. Faith must have been up here," Rapunzel responded. Cassandra could imagine the puzzled frown that was probably on her face.

"Alrighty then," Eugene said, buying the explanation. The footsteps resumed, and a moment later the door to the bedroom was opening. Cassandra watched patiently as they entered the room, initially unaware of her presence. Eugene walked in first, holding the door open for Rapunzel to follow suit. Lance followed right after her, and Cass was surprised to see the two young girls, Red and Angry, trail in after them. Lance took the opportunity to continue his story.

"So, as I was saying before Eugene here so rudely interrupted, I was-" Lance stopped short with a dramatic squeak when he spotted the surprise visitor perched casually on the other end of the room. The rest of the group turned toward the source of his surprise, and Cassandra watched the expressions on their faces change to shock as they recognized her. Eugene and Lance reacted quickly, their first instinct to position the two kids behind them.

"Cassandra?" Rapunzel gasped. She looked torn, as if she didn't know whether she should approach Cass or keep her distance.

"Surprise," Cass responded with a smirk, not moving from her position on the windowsill. 

"I-wh-what are you doing here?" Rapunzel stammered. 

"Is she here to apologize, or is she here for a fight?" Lance whispered to Eugene, far too loud to be an actual whisper. Eugene hushed him. 

"What, I can't come to wish my best friend a happy birthday?" Cassandra asked, raising an eyebrow. "And here I thought my invitation got lost in the mail."

"Yeah, some best friend you are. What are you  _ really _ doing here,  _ Cassandra _ ?" Eugene demanded, spitting her name out like a curse.

"Skipping the small talk, hm? Fine. I'm here for the Demanitus Scroll," Cassandra said simply, standing up from her place on the bench. Eugene's eyes widened.

"The scroll that has the instructions to wield the power of the Moonstone  _ and _ the Sundrop? Yeah, I don't think so."

"Stay out of this, Fitzherbert. Now tell me, where is it?"

"Where have you been?" Rapunzel blurted out suddenly, ignoring her question. “I-I miss you Cassandra, I want you to come home."

"And I want you to give me the scroll," Cass said coldly, focusing on the task. The last thing she needed was for this encounter to turn emotional.

"I-I don't think I can do that, Cass," Rapunzel said hesitantly. Cassandra wasn't surprised. She figured she wouldn't give up the scroll so easily.

"How about this? I'll give you some time to decide. Consider this your birthday gift," Cassandra said with a smirk. 

Having heard tense conversation through the open door, Stan and Pete burst into the room to see what the commotion was about. When they saw her, they froze in place with terrified expressions.

"Stan. Pete," Cass greeted, acknowledging the two guards with a nod. Pete was the first to react.

"I'll alert the Captain," Pete said quickly, turning to run in the opposite direction. Cassandra fought back her instinct to flinch at the mention of her dad.

"No need. I was just on my way out," Cassandra said with a grimace. Before anyone could react, she grabbed a specific piece of glassware from her bag and slammed it onto the ground. Zhan Tiri had taken the time to explain to Cassandra what each of the objects they had collected from the Spire was capable of. The vial she had broken sent out a massive cloud of purple dust with a loud  _ crack _ , creating the perfect smoke and mirror effect to cover Cassandra's exit. As the opaque dust filtered through the room, Cassandra quickly and quietly scaled the high walls with the aid of her Moonstone-enhanced strength and agility, climbing onto one of the wooden rafters which supported the room’s high ceiling . It was the perfect vantage point; the darkness of nighttime would for the most part conceal her as she eavesdropped on the conversation that was about to take place.

She had timed it well. As soon as she was comfortably perched on one of the rafters, the violet smoke had cleared and everyone below realized that Cassandra had vanished. They warily looked around, clearly unsettled by Cassandra's surprise appearance and equally surprising disappearance.

“What did I tell you?” Zhan Tiri asked with a pointed smile, floating in the air beside her. “They fear you.”

Unable to speak, she settled on giving the ghost a withering glare. Cass was hurt to see that Zhan Tiri was right about how the kingdom had perceived her actions. If they only knew that by taking the Moonstone she had saved Rapunzel’s life, and that she was actually working to undermine Zhan Tiri and save all of Corona. Soon they would know.

In a dramatic gesture, Eugene slammed the window shut and locked it. "Is it just me, or did Cass _ an _ dra's presence drop the temperature because  _ boy _ is it chilly in here."

"I don't understand, Eugene. She's been missing for a year, why is she turning up now looking for the scroll?" Rapunzel asked with a worried expression. 

"Sunshine, I'm not going to pretend to know what is going through Cass's mind right now, because quite frankly, I don't want to. From what we know it's a scary, unstable place.  _ But _ I have to give credit where credit is due, Madame Ice Demon was far more rational than I was expecting her to be. Although I don't know if that fact is reassuring or terrifying," Eugene said as he paced around the room. Cassandra raised an eyebrow. What was  _ that _ supposed to mean?

"After everything Adira said, I'm gonna go with terrifying," Lance said. Cass grit her teeth.

_ Ugh. Adira. _ She must have paid a visit to Corona following their encounter near the Great Tree and filled Rapunzel in on what had happened. Well, what had happened from Adira's perspective, that is. Cass was certain that neither Hector nor Adira had any kind words on her behalf after she had left them trapped in the cage of black rocks. 

Rapunzel was pacing back and forth as she thought out loud. "She didn't  _ seem _ unstable. She seemed...well, like Cass. I know she's still in there."

"Uh princess, with all due respect, are you forgetting what Adira and the Captain told us about Cass flying off the handle and talking to someone  _ who wasn't even there _ ? Nobody, and I mean nobody, in their right mind speaks out loud to the voices in their head," Lance said, Rapunzel sighing in response. 

Cass narrowed her eyes at Zhan Tiri who smiled sweetly. 

_ Great. They think I've got a screw loose. _ She understood how it looked from the outside, but she wasn't thrilled about it. 

"Are you saying that you speak to the voices in your head, just not out loud?" Angry asked sarcastically. 

"That is called having a  _ thought _ . You should try it sometime," Lance countered. 

Rapunzel stopped her pacing, as if she had come to a decision. "I can't give Cassandra the scroll."

"Hey, I agree," Eugene said, collapsing into the chair beside her. "Who knows what she's been doing since she disappeared?" 

"Probably practicing betrayal. Thinking a lot about doing harm," Angry said as she played absentmindedly with the globe.

"Reading," Red offered.

"Reading a lot about doing harm," Angry repeated. Lance put out a hand to stop the globe from spinning. 

"So, Cass gets the scroll, total destruction of us, got it," Eugene said with a sigh.

It bothered Cassandra immensely that they jumped to the conclusion that she was insane and hellbent on destruction. She thought her friends knew her better than that. What had she even done to give that impression? Did they really put that much faith in Adira's biased account of her? Sure Cassandra had technically betrayed them, but it wasn't like she went off on some kind of reign of terror. All she did was simply disappear. Yes, they had no idea that she did so with the purpose of keeping Zhan Tiri away from the kingdom, but she was certain that she didn't do anything to indicate that she was after "total destruction" as Eugene had said. In fact, if anything, it was the opposite. Did they just think the black rocks retreated conveniently of their own accord? Probably. If Cassandra had truly wanted Corona to burn, it would already be in flames.

"Easy, then we hide the scroll," Lance said with a casual smile. A realization then crossed his face. "Uh, where is the scroll, anyway?"

"That's the other downside. Heh. I don't have it," Rapunzel admitted as she sat beside Eugene.

"Then who does?" Lance asked puzzled.

"We gave it to Varian months ago. He's been working on translating it for us," Rapunzel explained.

_ Varian? _

That was a name Cassandra was not expecting to hear. Even more surprising than hearing the alchemist's name was the fact that it sounded like Varian had repaired his friendship with Rapunzel. Last she remembered, Varian had been hauled off to the dungeons following the Battle of Old Corona, after nearly crushing the Queen and Cassandra to death in the grip of his automaton. While Cass had been the one to lead the strike against him, it had pained her to do so because she had always admired the kid and really felt for him and the horrible situation with his dad. She was glad to hear that he was on a better path now. He was a bright kid. 

Suddenly an idea dawned on Cass. 

_ That was it!  _ If there was anyone who would be able to figure out a way to rebuild the portal and trap Zhan Tiri again, it would be Varian. He was the only person Cassandra could think of who was both well versed in the legends and capable of engineering complicated devices. If somehow she could speak to him without Zhan Tiri hovering over her shoulder, she might be able to convince him to help her. 

Excited by the prospect of having some sort of plan, Cassandra listened intently as the group below her discussed their own. They decided to head out the next morning to visit Varian.. After collecting the scroll from him, they planned to move it to a new secondary location where Cassandra would never find it. Too bad they didn't notice Cass above their heads listening to their every word.

Eventually, the conversation moved to a lighter topic unrelated to the scroll, which was fine with Cassandra. She had already heard everything she needed to and would wait to follow them the next morning to wherever Varian was keeping the scroll. Now that she didn’t need to pay attention to the conversation below, her mind raced as she thought up a plan of her own. 

Somehow, she needed to speak to Varian alone and convince him to help her, but getting him alone was not going to be a simple task. Even if it was miraculously timed in such a way that their meeting coincided with one of Zhan Tiri's random disappearances, Cass still somehow needed to separate the alchemist from Rapunzel and the others. If only she knew where Varian was keeping the scroll at the moment, then she could take a chance and head over right now in hopes that Zhan Tiri would vanish for a bit. Unfortunately, she needed Rapunzel to lead her to him. It was looking like any conversation with Varian would be taking place  _ after _ Cassandra got her hands on the scroll.

A horrible idea occurred to her; she could kill two birds with one stone. Her thoughts turned toward her little bag of tricks that she collected from the Spire. There was a vial of sleeping gas in there, the exact same stuff Demanitus had used to knock out Zhan Tiri all those years ago. If she used that to knock everyone out, she could take the scroll  _ and _ Varian with her. That would give her the chance to speak to Varian away from Rapunzel while giving her the time she needed to wait for one of Zhan Tiri's disappearances.

While this plan could work, Cassandra was hesitant. Was she willing to go so far as to kidnap Varian? The more she thought about it, the more she realized she could think of no other feasible option. She had to try. All she wanted to do was talk to him in private, she rationalized. And if he wanted to leave after they spoke, then he was free to go. She just needed that chance.

Cassandra sighed quietly. Nothing about this was going to be simple, was it?

* * *

"Alright, let's get going!" Rapunzel cried out cheerfully before heading into the dark system of tunnels under Corona. Pascal was perched on her shoulder, and the two of them were followed by Eugene and Lance. Cassandra gave them a moment before slipping into the tunnels after them, trailing behind the group like a shadow. Zhan Tiri glided silently alongside her, watching her every move.

After a while of walking through the tunnels, Cassandra began to recognize that they were headed in the direction of the Demanitus Chamber. They passed a symbol of Demanitus that was etched into the wall and Cassandra didn't miss the way Zhan Tiri's eyes narrowed at the sight.

"My dear old friend would be pleased to see that someone is continuing to carry out his work in this wretched chamber of his," she remarked dryly. 

Cassandra watched as Rapunzel and the others reached the entrance of the chamber up ahead. She held back for a moment to give them a chance to descend the massive staircase before she walked in herself. Once through the door she paused at the top of the staircase and looked down on the scene below her, not bothering to hide. She wondered how long it would take them to notice her presence. 

She looked down just as Rapunzel walked up behind Varian and greeted him brightly. Clearly she had caught the alchemist by surprise because he had immediately spit out whatever he was drinking into the face of his raccoon. Ruddiger, was it?

Varian turned around sheepishly to face Rapunzel as he mumbled something and Cassandra was finally able to get a good look at him. He was taller and lankier than she remembered, standing nearly at Rapunzel's height. The way he interacted amiably with the princess showed that whatever tension and hard feelings that existed between them two years ago were now long gone. It looked like he really did patch things up with the others.

"Oh thank goodness! You have the scroll," Rapunzel exclaimed, looking at the wall where Varian had the scroll pinned up with all kinds of notes surrounding it.

"I do. Oh, I do. And it took a while but I-I, um, think I have some idea as to what's written on it now," Varian said quickly as he moved closer to the scroll.

"Oh Varian, that's amazing! What's on it?" Rapunzel asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

Varian pointed to the far left edge of the scroll. "This is the healing incantation. This here next to it, the decay incantation. And this, oh  _ this _ , is a third incantation!"

"A third incantation? What does it do?" Rapunzel asked curiously.

Varian jumped at the question. He looked at Eugene briefly before turning back to Rapunzel and stammering, "I-I uh, well, um, I don't know exactly, you see I have to finish the translation key first and, uh, do some more analysis, you know. But enough about that! There's also a  _ fourth _ incantation according to this thing here, but I can't seem to find it anywhere on the scroll." 

At that moment Lance looked up at the staircase and locked eyes with Cassandra. She smiled. He jumped.

"Uh guys, you might want to stop talking about the secrets of the scroll," Lance said coughing, pointing in the direction of the staircase. Instantly all eyes turned to face her.

"Don't stop on my account," she said with a grin. “You’re not the most observant bunch, you know.”

Everyone's expressions turned fearful at the sight of her. All but one, that is. Varian's face lit up with a bright smile and he took a step in her direction. 

"Cass!" he called out cheerfully, reaching out for her. Rapunzel quickly stepped in front of him and blocked his path.

“Varian, don't get any closer! Hide the scroll. We cannot let her get her hands on it.”

"But the scroll is worthless without the translation key," Varian said with a frown.

"Good thing I have a key of my own," Cassandra responded as she started to make her way down the staircase, drawing her shadowblade.

"Get the scroll out. Blondie, I got this," Eugene said as he charged up the stairs in Cassandra's direction. With a shout he met her halfway up the staircase and brought his sword down on her. Cass blocked the blow, crossing her arms in front of her defensively. Eugene's sword promptly shattered upon impact with her armor. Eugene gaped at the broken sword in horror. "Her armor is made of the rock!"

Cassandra narrowed her gaze and kicked Eugene backwards. He tumbled down the stairs, Lance catching him at the bottom before he could hit the ground.

"Don't test me, Fitzherbert. Charge at me again and I'll stop playing nice," Cass warned as she descended the last of the stairs. Zhan Tiri had joined the others at the bottom of the staircase, watching the scene unfold in front of her with a smug expression. 

"Oh sure, because you're already the picture of kindness," Eugene said sarcastically as Lance helped him get back on his feet. The group backed up towards the scroll as Cassandra approached them.

"Time's up. Give me that scroll, Rapunzel," Cass said simply, her shadowblade still gripped firmly in her hand.

"Cass, let's just talk about this," Rapunzel pleaded.

"There's nothing to talk about. I need those incantations, end of story."

"Wait! She can't get the scroll!" Varian blurted out suddenly, and then all eyes were on him. "Rapunzel, I-I lied about the third incantation. I was able to translate all of it. It's an incantation for controlling the complete power of the Moonstone, and if Cass gets it she'll have complete control over the black rocks."

"Wait, you mean you translated all of it already?" Rapunzel asked with a betrayed expression. "Why didn't you tell me?"

When Varian didn't respond, Eugene looked at her with a guilty expression. "Because I asked him not to tell you. Not yet, anyway. It's just after everything that happened with the decay incantation, I was afraid what would happen to you if you blindly tried any of the others. So when Varian told me a couple weeks ago that he was close to finishing the translation key, I asked him to hold off on telling you until he was  _ positive _ he knew what the incantations were capable of. I'm so sorry, Blondie."

That was fair, Cassandra thought. Rapunzel had blindly used the decay incantation and found herself surprised by the fact she couldn't control it. It made sense to try and figure out the risks ahead of time for the others. Cass was certain that she would have done the same thing if she were in Eugene's shoes. Cassandra expected Rapunzel to argue that they should have never kept that information from her in the first place, so she was surprised when Rapunzel sighed and nodded once.

"It's okay, Eugene. You have a point, and I understand why you did it," Rapunzel said. At that moment Rapunzel turned toward Cassandra with a sympathetic expression. More specifically, she was staring at Cassandra's right hand.

Cass saw red. Even after all this time, she  _ still _ had the audacity to look down on her like that for an injury that she herself caused. Part of her considered the possibility that just  _ maybe _ she was looking at her like that because she felt guilty, but Cassandra shut that voice down in favor of rage, the Moonstone amplifying her already intense emotions.

"Are you serious right now, Rapunzel? Don't look at me like that," Cassandra snapped, lightning crackling from the opal on her chest.

"What do you mean?" Rapunzel asked, unsettled by the sudden activity from the opal. 

Cass knew it was probably more strategic to keep this encounter short and to the point, but she didn't care anymore. She was more in touch with her emotions than she had ever been before, and she wasn't going to back down from sharing them this time.

"You know exactly what I mean, so quit staring at my hand like I'm some kind of kicked animal. It's condescending," Cass said, sheathing her shadowblade and crossing her arms across her chest.

"Cass, I never meant it that way, I'm so sorry that you thought-"

"No Rapunzel, you're not sorry. You wouldn't do it after all this time if you were. You never even actually apologized, you just blamed me for trying to rescue you from the consequences of  _ your _ reckless decision. If you had just given me the chance to  _ try _ and actually listen and trust me for once-"

"Trust?" Eugene retorted. "That's rich coming from you, Cass _ an _ dra."

"You both are unbelievable. Even now you still won't listen to me. Rapunzel, you  _ begged _ me to be open with my feelings. How about I show and don't tell, since clearly you still don't care what I have to say."

They tensed at her words and were caught off guard as Cassandra's armor of rock started to retract, leaving her arms bare. Cass had always been pale, but possessing the moonstone had taken it to a new level. Her skin looked like it was made of marble - well, most of it, at least. What stood out in stark contrast from her marble skin was the decay, a patch of rot that was petrified in her skin from just above her elbow down to her withered and blistered finger tips. The sickly shade of it was distinct from the glossy black of her armor. At this point Cass had grown accustomed to looking at the rot, and her concern faded quickly after she had taken possession of the Moonstone. She had forgotten just how truly horrifying it was until she saw the expressions on everyone's faces. Varian actually looked like he was going to be sick.

She extended her arm out to the side, and Rapunzel flinched. "Notice anything different about it?" Cass asked venomously.

"I don't understand," Rapunzel whispered. The look on her face told Cassandra that she was starting to, at the very least. Cass could only hope. "I thought that it was only your hand. I thought I remembered-"

"You remember correctly." Cass said, the anger in her voice now replaced by a quiet sadness. She could see the puzzle pieces coming together in Rapunzel's mind, so she backed off from her anger. Cass didn't want to hurt the princess; she just wanted her friend to hear her and understand her. "I was dying. I'm not anymore."

Rapunzel was rendered speechless, staring at Cass with an unreadable expression. She couldn't remember the last time Rapunzel had ever been at a loss for words. 

Content with the knowledge that Rapunzel was starting to understand, Cass had to move on with her plan and she had to do it quickly. Good thing she had always been the most agile of the group.

Her head snapped to Varian as her armor slid back over her arms. "You and that scroll are coming with me."

_ Forgive me. _

She reached for the sleeping gas in her bag and slammed it onto the ground. Cass held her breath as the blue vapor spread out in all directions, and within seconds everyone had passed out. She grabbed the scroll from the wall and slung Varian over her shoulder as she fled, hoping that he would be able to help her finally end this once and for all.


	11. Walking the Tightrope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone, sorry for the late update! i've had a lot going on and this chapter took me longer to write than i anticipated. since this one was late, the next chapter will be posted next sunday instead of this coming sunday, and updates should be weekly again after that (pending unpredictable life events, of course).
> 
> anyways thank you again for all of your comments and kudos, and i hope you enjoy :)

After her swift retreat from the Demanitus Chamber, Cassandra did not stop to rest until she was out of the tunnels. Only when she emerged into the vibrant green woods surrounding Corona did she pause to breathe and collect her thoughts. Before she could give any serious consideration as to what her next step would be, she noticed Zhan Tiri beside her out of the corner of her eye. She was staring at Varian's unconscious figure slung over Cassandra's shoulder with an unreadable expression.

Cassandra turned to face her. "You're awfully quiet."

" _This_ is your plan?" Zhan Tiri asked seriously. She didn't look irritated or even suspicious. If anything she looked perplexed, as if Cassandra had made an unpredictable move in a game of chess that she was trying to understand.

"You're the one who said you trusted my judgement," Cass fired back. 

"Yes, but why take the alchemist?" Zhan Tiri's questions brought a smile to Cassandra's face. It was nice to be the one with the answers for once. Expecting this line of questioning, Cassandra was prepared to respond. 

"Taking the scroll won't be enough for Rapunzel to come find me. By taking Varian as bait, she'll have no choice but to come after us."

Zhan Tiri smiled in delight and nodded once thoughtfully, seeming to buy the reasonable explanation. "I see. Clever. But how exactly do you intend Rapunzel to find you? As we discussed, you need-"

"-a stronghold," Cassandra finished. "And I know just the place to build one." The ghost smiled and continued following Cassandra down the forest path.

Cass had put some thought into it the night before as she was coming up with her plan. The idea came to her as she looked over the paintings on Rapunzel's walls and saw a depiction of her old tower. It was the perfect site, really; the clearing was large enough for Cassandra to construct a tall enough stronghold for Rapunzel to find her, the ruins were fairly close by, and the location was personal enough to Rapunzel that it would put her on edge when she came to confront Cassandra. 

Once Cass arrived at the clearing, the plan was to construct a tower using the black rocks. The sleeping gas she used in the Demanitus Chamber should buy her more than enough time to not only construct the stronghold, but to also have Zhan Tiri decipher the fourth incantation on the scroll. If all went well, she would have enough time to speak with Varian without the ghost looming over her shoulder. 

The second part of her plan, everything after Rapunzel’s arrival at the tower, was less clear. If Cassandra was going to follow through on this plan to free Zhan Tiri, she had to figure out a way to 1.) get the fourth incantation into Rapunzel's hands and 2.) provoke Rapunzel into fighting her with it. Cassandra was uncertain if she would be able to accomplish that second task. In spite of everything that had happened between them, she was certain that Rapunzel would be reluctant to battle her, even if she attacked the princess outright. It was looking like Cassandra would have to take a page out of Zhan Tiri's playbook and push Rapunzel's buttons in such a way that she was willing to fight with the incantation.

Suddenly a question occurred to her, and she turned to Zhan Tiri for an answer. “What does the fourth incantation do anyway?"

"Just as the third incantation allowed you to access the complete power of the Moonstone, the fourth incantation gives access to the full power of the Sundrop," Zhan Tiri explained simply. 

"Yeah, but can Rapunzel even use it? The healing incantation hasn’t exactly worked for her since she got her hair back,” Cass said with a frown. Zhan Tiri gave her a knowing smile.

"That is because the power of the Sundrop lies dormant within her. The power she wields is not that of the Sundrop, but of the Moonstone."

"But that's not possible," Cassandra said, clutching at the opal on her chest defensively. "I have the Moonstone."

"Yes, but when Rapunzel touched the black rocks, the Moonstone gave her a piece of its power to ensure her protection. This kept the Sundrop safe until she made her way to the Dark Kingdom.”

"So Rapunzel is protected by the Moonstone," Cassandra summarized. The irony was almost poetic.

"Yes. You see, the power of the Moonstone is not completely yours," Zhan Tiri said with a pointed smirk. Cassandra hated to admit it, but that fact bothered her. She had come to think of the Moonstone's power as her own, as an extension of herself, and she didn't like the idea that Rapunzel had some claim to that as well. "However, with this fourth incantation, you can take that power back."

"What do you mean?"

“Should Rapunzel use the fourth incantation, it will wake the Sundrop from its dormant state and allow her to shed the protection of the Moonstone entirely. After that, the power of the Moonstone will belong to you and you alone," Zhan Tiri explained. 

Cassandra didn't know how to respond to that, so she settled for walking in complete silence. They continued on for a while longer, until Cassandra pushed her way through the cover of some vines, revealing the clearing on the other side. Standing before them were the ruins of Rapunzel's old tower, scattered and broken across the glade. The black rocks that had once ravaged the site were long gone, leaving behind only the destruction that they had caused. Zhan Tiri smirked at the sight of it. She seemed amused by Cassandra's choice of construction site.

"Alright. We're here," Cassandra said as they walked a little farther into the clearing. Standing near the wreckage, she gently leaned Varian against one of the broken walls. She placed her bag beside him and turned her back to the ruins of the tower, facing the adjacent cleared area .

With a deep breath, Cassandra closed her eyes and reached out for the power within her. In her mind she visualized the structure she wanted to create, taking care to picture all the minute details that she wanted to include within it. It had been a while since she last used her powers to their full extent, and the opportunity to test her limits left her itching with anticipation. This was certainly the most challenging task she had faced so far; it was easy to send out a barrage of rocks, but it was decidedly less simple to organize the rocks into a massive yet intricate structure.

Content with the image in her mind's eye, Cassandra opened her eyes as she extended out her arms in front of her. She directed the full power of the Moonstone in front of her, the ground around her shaking violently as the black rocks illuminated with brilliant blue light shot out from below. The rocks rose higher and higher into the sky, coalescing into the form of a tower as they grew. With one final burst of blue energy that shot out in all directions and the tower was complete, standing tall and ominous above the forest. Cassandra looked up on her creation with pride, the residual energy of the Moonstone still coursing within her. It felt amazing to really push the limits of her power.

With a satisfied smile, she turned around to where she had left Varian on the ground. She frowned when she noticed that the alchemist was still knocked out cold, even after the violent shaking from the construction of her tower.

"Man, that stuff is potent," she remarked as she scooped Varian and her bag off of the ground.

Cassandra entered the tower and began the long climb toward its top. The inside was sleek and dark, and Cassandra felt the connection to the black rocks surrounding her as if they were an extension of herself. As she walked up the winding staircase, Zhan Tiri floated alongside her, beaming. 

"You've done well, Cassandra. Soon Rapunzel will come for the boy and you will face her with the full power of the Moonstone."

"First we need to translate the incantation from the scroll," Cassandra pointed out.

" _We_ don't need to do anything," Zhan Tiri said with a smirk. "Not when we have the alchemist."

Cassandra didn't like the sound of that. "What does he have to do with any of this?"

"The boy has devised his own translation key. With the right push he can decipher the incantation himself. He will then offer the translation to Rapunzel, and she will be more inclined to use it since it came from a trusted ally looking to help," she explained with her knowing smile. Honestly? It wasn't a terrible idea, but Cassandra did not like her choice of the word "push".

"That could work, but what do you mean by the 'right push'?" Cassandra asked. Before she could receive an answer, the ghost blinked out of existence.

Cassandra's heart skipped a beat, the conversation completely forgotten. Zhan Tiri was finally gone. Now was her chance to talk to Varian, but she had to move quickly. She figured there was a little over an hour, maybe two hours tops if she was lucky. With no time to waste Cassandra sprinted up the remaining steps of the tower, cursing how stupidly tall it was.

Finally, she emerged into the massive room on the tower’s top that overlooked the main island of Corona in the distance. Using her power she created a bench from the black rocks and set Varian down on top of it. The kid was still fast asleep despite all of the jostling he had endured from being carried all the way from the Demanitus Chamber to the top of Cassandra's tower.

"Hey kid, wake up," Cassandra said, shaking his shoulder. Varian didn't budge and Cassandra cursed the sleeping gas. Just exactly how strong was that stuff? This was all for nothing if she couldn't wake him up.

"Varian, wake up," she snapped, shaking him more violently. "We don't have a lot of time. Wake. Up."

Varian groaned softly and shifted in his sleep, finally showing some signs of life. Cassandra was growing impatient. Taking a step back, she focused her power on the bench and used it to launch Varian several feet into the air.

That did the trick. Varian shouted in alarm as he found himself rudely awakened and suspended in midair, and Cassandra raised the bench back up to break his fall before lowering it back to its original position.

“Ah!" he gasped in alarm. "Wh-what was that?" He looked around in a desperate attempt to answer his question and jumped when he locked eyes with Cassandra. "H-huh? Where are we? What did you do?”

"You know, you're not exactly the easiest person to wake up," Cass remarked dryly.

"Wait. Did you knock me out and kidnap me?" he asked incredulously. 

"You say that like you've never done the same thing yourself," she fired back. He flinched slightly at the reminder of the Queen's kidnapping. 

"I-I'm not giving you the third incantation!"

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "Kid, look around you. Does it look like I need the third incantation?"

Varian took a long look around and finally seemed to process his surroundings. "This place is made out of the black rocks. Y-you have the third incantation already, don't you? But I don't understand. If you have it already, why do you need the scroll?"

"It's a long story. And quit looking at me like that, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Well you seemed hellbent on that not so long ago, so excuse me if I don't believe you. Why did you bring me here? Where is _here_ , anyway?"

"I brought you here because I needed to talk to you alone. Varian, I need your help."

Varian looked baffled. "You need _my_ help? With what? In case you haven't heard, my days of treason are _well_ behind me."

"I'm not the enemy here!" Cassandra shouted in frustration. "Ugh Varian, _please_ , you have to listen to me. We don't have a lot of time. We have maybe an hour or two before Zhan Tiri comes back."

"I'm sorry, before _who_ comes back?" Varian asked, horrified.

" _Just listen to me!_ " Cass snapped.

With Varian finally silent and ready to listen, Cassandra launched into her tale about her adventures outside the walls of Corona. She did her best to keep her story brief without compromising important details. Varian was listening intently as Cassandra talked through her experiences, starting with her first encounter with Zhan Tiri in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow, and ending with her explanation of why she needed to return to Corona for help.

"So let me make sure I have this straight," Varian began. "You guys walked into a creepy house that ended up belonging to one of the disciples of Zhan Tiri, and he kinda, sorta managed to free him, er, her. Zhan Tiri's ghost has been following you around ever since trying to get you to turn your back on Rapunzel, and when you tried to tell Rapunzel that, she didn't seem to care that an _ancient demon_ _bent on destruction_ was just hanging around."

"She's not a demon," Cassandra corrected. Varian stared at her dumbfounded. "Well, I don't think so, anyway. She's just an asshole."

"Great. Fantastic. So this _ancient asshole bent on destruction_ was following you around and Rapunzel wasn't taking the threat seriously, so you decided to handle Zhan Tiri yourself. You took the Moonstone, let Zhan Tiri believe that you were playing her game, and all this time you've been trying to stall her plan while making up one of your own. You managed to do this for a year, but now Zhan Tiri is growing stronger and you still have no plan. So you gave up on stalling and came back to Corona to find help, since you can't do much with Zhan Tiri watching your every move almost every hour of the day. You decided that you needed _my_ help specifically," Varian smiled cheekily and placed his hand on his chest, "which by the way I'm honored you thought that, because I might be able to find a way rebuild Demanitus's portal or research some other way to stop her. Am I understanding this right?"

"Yep," Cass confirmed. It was strange listening to someone else rehash her current situation in their own words. She searched Varian's expression for any indication that he was willing to help. 

"Wow, Cass I-I don't even know what to say," Varian said, running his hand through his hair nervously. Clearly he was still trying to process all of the information that Cassandra had dumped on him, which was fair. Cassandra knew better than anyone that this was a lot. 

"Say that you'll help me end this. I can't build something to imprison her like Demanitus did. But you can," Cassandra said. Varian seemed to think it over for a minute before turning to look at Cassandra with a serious look.

“Why should I trust you?” he asked point blank. Cassandra raised an eyebrow. 

“Are you seriously asking me that question, you out of all people? Last time I saw you, you were literally crushing me to death.” Varian flinched at the reminder. “Telling you everything I just did, I am putting my entire plan at risk. I’m trusting you Varian, and for this to work I need you to trust me.” Varian seemed to think it over for another moment before he reached a decision, his expression softening. 

"Alright. I'll trust you." A wave of relief crashed over Cassandra. "I'll see what I can do. There's some old research that belonged to Demanitus back in my lab that might have some information that could help us. I can head over there right now and get started-"

"Sorry kid, you can't leave. Not yet anyway," Cassandra sighed and Varian looked over at her for an explanation. "I needed an excuse for bringing you here without Zhan Tiri getting suspicious, so I told her that I kidnapped you to lure Rapunzel out. She wants Rapunzel to use the fourth incantation, which is why I needed to retrieve the scroll."

"Wait, what? Why does Zhan Tiri want Rapunzel to use the fourth incantation? What does it even _do_?" Varian asked, clearly confused. Cassandra winced, knowing that Varian wasn't going to be thrilled with what she was about to say.

"She said that the fourth incantation can be used to access the full power of the Sundrop, like the third incantation let me access the full power of the Moonstone. Zhan Tiri needs Rapunzel and I to fight each other with the full power of the drops, since the clash between sun and moon would generate enough power for her to break free from her prison," she explained. Varian's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his head.

"I'm sorry, you're doing _what_ now?"

"Listen, I know how it sounds-"

"Do you? Why on earth do you think it's a good idea to _free Zhan Tiri_? I thought you said you were trying to stop her!"

"I am!" Cass said defensively. "But it's complicated. I have to do this, I don't have a choice."

"It sounds like you do," Varian said evenly. "You can just let this plan fail."

"You don't understand. Even if I let this plan fail, she will _still_ find a way to break free. She's not entirely imprisoned anymore and she's already becoming less...ghostly. If I help her break free now then I will have earned her trust completely, and she'll _finally_ tell me what she has planned. Then, we can stop her for good."

"But you know what she has planned," Varian reminded her. "She wants to destroy Corona."

"I know that, but I'm starting to think her plan is a little bit bigger than just destroying Corona. If that was all she wanted to do, she would have me fight Rapunzel in Corona, not out in the middle of nowhere. She's waiting for something, but I just don't know what, and it's bothering me," Cass explained, frustrated. It looked like this conversation was giving Varian a headache.

"Alright, if you _really_ feel like freeing Zhan Tiri is the right move here, then I won't try to stop you. I just _really_ hope you know what you're doing," Varian said seriously as he sat back down on the bench.

"Yeah, me too," Cass sighed, sitting down on the bench beside him. They sat there in silence for a moment as the wheels turned in Varian's head.

"You know, you might not be able to free her after all. I'm not convinced that the fourth incantation is even on the scroll. I-I couldn't find it anywhere, and I've been studying it for _months_ now," Varian said in frustration. Cassandra frowned.

"She seemed pretty confident that it's on there somewhere and that you'd be able to figure it out."

Varian snorted. "If she's so confident, then she should just look at the scroll for herself. But let me guess; she wants me to figure out the incantation myself so that I can be the one to give it to Rapunzel?"

Cassandra blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah, actually. That's exactly what she wants. How'd you know?"

"Well based on everything you've told me, that would be the most logical move in this scenario. If you give Rapunzel the incantation, then she's not going to trust it. But, if it comes from me, someone that she trusts, she would be more inclined to use it," Varian rambled as he stood up from the bench. He picked up the scroll out of Cassandra's bag and looked over it as if the answer would reveal itself if he stared at it long enough. "So it's great that Zhan Tiri thinks I can figure it out before Rapunzel arrives, but there's nothing for me to figure out if it _isn't on the scroll._ "

"Yeah, well, I can't help you there," Cass said with a sigh, standing up to follow him as he paced around the room. "And listen, I don't think we have a lot of time until Zhan Tiri comes back. It's just...whatever happens when she comes back, I need you to trust me. I know it might not seem like it later, but I swear that I’m on your side."

"I know, Cass. I believe you," Varian said with a soft smile. "And I really do want to help you."

"Thanks Varian," Cassandra said with a smile, letting herself relax a bit. "I really do appreciate it, you know."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Varian asked with a cheeky smile, putting his hand to his ear. "Because it sounded like you just said you appreciated me."

Cassandra rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but smile. "Don't let it go to your head, kid." After spending a year with only Zhan Tiri for company, it was nice having a normal human interaction.

"Eh, I make no promises." Varian smiled and started to walk towards the balcony that overlooked Corona. The color seemed to drain from his face when he saw just far how above the ground they were.

"Oh wow, we're really high up," Varian said nervously, clutching the scroll tighter to his chest.

"I needed to make sure Rapunzel knew where to find me," Cass said casually.

"Well, there's no way she can miss this place, that's for sure," Varian muttered with a frown. He took a quick step back inside and sat against one of the walls, looking intently at the scroll in his hands as if it were a puzzle. He pulled a notebook out of his bag and began to ramble about the scroll, more to himself than to Cassandra. They remained that way for a while, Varian mumbling about the incantations and Cassandra standing and waiting patiently. Eventually, Cassandra noticed Zhan Tiri reappear out of the corner of her eye and she fought against her instinct to stiffen. Instead, she turned toward the ghost with an air of confidence.

"Took you long enough. Varian and I had a little chat while you were gone," Cass said with a smirk. At the mention of his name, Varian looked up from the scroll and whirled around. He whipped around in an attempt to find who Cass was talking to, but saw nothing. He stared at her in confusion.

“Cass? Who are you talking to?” he asked seriously, and Cassandra realized that she had forgotten to mention the small, little detail that the ghost was invisible to everyone but her. Whoops.

"A friend," Cassandra responded, deliberately catching Varian’s eye and hoping that he would be able to put two and two together.

"Oh? Oh, uh, okay. That clears things up," Varian said, still looking just a bit concerned.

"I see," Zhan Tiri responded to Cassandra, looking at Varian with a calculating eye. "Care to fill me in?"

"You see, Varian here owes me one after he nearly killed me two years ago, so he's agreed to help us out with that fourth incantation. Isn't that right, Varian?" Cass said pointedly. She felt bad when she caught Varian flinching at the statement. It was a low blow, but she needed to sell this act to Zhan Tiri.

"Like I said, I'll help you with the fourth incantation, but I can't seem to find it anywhere on the scroll," Varian repeated in frustration. Cassandra turned toward Zhan Tiri who was looking at the alchemist with an amused smile.

"Are you sure it's on there?" Cassandra asked the ghost.

“Oh, I'm sure," Zhan Tiri said with a knowing smirk. "Tell him to sleep on it.”

“What?" Cass asked, confused. She couldn't have heard that right. "Seriously?”

“Tell him to sleep on it,” Zhan Tiri repeated firmly.

“Um, okay then. Fine." Cassandra turned back towards Varian. "My friend here says to sleep on it and you’ll figure it out.”

Varian blinked, clearly unsettled by whatever exchange he’d just witnessed. "Sleep on it? Oh? Well, um, okay then. Sure. That's fine. _Sleep_ . I'm actually still feeling drowsy from that blue vapor you used on us back in the Demanitus Chamber, so might as well take a nap. What _was_ that stuff anyway? I've never seen a compound anything like it before, and its effects-"

Cassandra cut him off. "It was some kind of sleeping gas that I got from the Spire," 

"Sleeping _vapor_. If it was a pure gas, you wouldn't be able to see it," Varian corrected. Cassandra turned around to glare at him and he got the message. "Alright. Sleep. Got it."

With that, Varian promptly walked back over to the bench and laid down. He wasn't kidding about the residual sleeping gas remaining in his system, and was snoring within two minutes. Cassandra was impressed by his ability to fall asleep so quickly.

"The alchemist is being quite cooperative," Zhan Tiri probed with a shrewd smile.

"He is, isn't he?" Cassandra was relieved that Varian was following her lead in the situation. As long as he played along, she should be able to handle Zhan Tiri. At least, that's what she hoped. "But seriously, is the incantation on the scroll?"

"Yes, it is," Zhan Tiri confirmed, displeased for having to repeat herself. "The boy is bright. He will be able to figure it out for himself." She sounded so confident.

"How much do you know about Varian anyway?" Cassandra asked bluntly.

"Enough," Zhan Tiri said cryptically. "I know of his talents and his history with the princess, which I was able to gather from your minds in the House of Yesterday's Tomorrow."

"Right," Cassandra grumbled bitterly. She hated not knowing what information Zhan Tiri had and what information she didn't. Cassandra looked away from Zhan Tiri for a brief moment and when she turned back she noticed that the ghost had vanished. That was odd, considering she had already disappeared not too long ago. Not knowing what to make of it, Cassandra shrugged it off and took the opportunity to collect her thoughts.

_Finally_. After spending an entire year without any concrete plan to stop Zhan Tiri, Cassandra had _finally_ made some progress. Now that she had Varian on board, she felt hopeful that they could prevent Zhan Tiri from wreaking any kind of havoc in Corona. Once this entire getting-Rapunzel-to-use-the-fourth-incantation ordeal was over, Varian could slip away to his lab and start looking into the research he had mentioned.

But first, she actually had to resolve this whole ordeal. She needed to find a way to provoke Rapunzel enough that she would fight back, and Cass needed to think of one soon. In all honesty, she was reluctant to fight Rapunzel. In spite of everything, Cass still cared immensely about her. This entire quest in the first place was about _protecting_ Rapunzel and Corona, but she really didn't feel like much of a protector if the only way to protect the princess was to fight her.

All Cassandra knew was that this encounter wasn't going to end nicely for either of them. While it would be an understatement to say that their relationship was strained at the moment, this entire time Cassandra had firmly believed that their friendship could recover once she returned home. However, if she pushed Rapunzel as far as she suspected she would have to, Cassandra wasn't sure if the bond between them could ever be repaired.

Touching her right arm, Cassandra told herself that it didn't matter. Their friendship was in tatters long before Zhan Tiri ever got involved. Maybe after all was said and done, they would be able to rebuild their relationship from the ashes.

Cassandra was suddenly shaken from her thoughts by the sound of Varian screaming. Alarmed, she turned and found him sitting upright on the bench, looking frantically in all directions. Before Cassandra could ask if he was okay, he visibly sagged in relief at the sight of his surroundings. 

"Oh, phew. It was just a dream," Varian sighed, taking a deep breath to steady himself. He paused and thought for a moment before turning to the nearby scroll. "Wow. That compound must have really messed with my head. _But_ , that nightmare did actually give me something to think about." Varian grabbed the scroll and dashed out onto the balcony, mumbling something about the sun. As he left, Cassandra noticed Zhan Tiri reappear, grinning as she watched the alchemist run outside with the scroll.

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "What's that look about?"

"The boy should be able to figure out the incantation himself, now that he's been given the right push," Zhan Tiri said with a cryptic smile.

"The right push?" Cassandra asked. She suddenly realized that Varian waking up screaming probably had nothing to do with the sleeping gas. "What did you do?"

"I wanted to have a little chat with him myself," Zhan Tiri smirked. 

"So you entered his dreams?" she asked incredulously.

"More or less," the ghost responded. Cass repressed the urge to shudder. She really didn't like that Zhan Tiri was capable of that, but she liked having no idea what else Zhan Tiri was capable of even less . 

Before Cass could even think to ask what Zhan Tiri said to Varian, she heard the alchemist shout in delight from the balcony. "That's it! Use the sun to see the sun, Demanitus you _genius_!" Zhan Tiri rolled her eyes. "Cass, you have to come out here and see this!" 

Cassandra walked outside to find Varian practically vibrating with excitement as he held up his goggles to the scroll. She could see the goggles refracting the rays of the sun, partially illuminating some hidden symbols on the back of the parchment.

"What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?" Cassandra asked with a frown, crossing her arms against her chest.

"It's the fourth incantation! It was hidden on the back of the scroll with a photoreactive ink, so you need a beam of sunlight in order to read it. Obvious, right?" he said gleefully.

"Sure. Super obvious," she deadpanned. Varian ignored her.

"I just need a more concentrated beam of sunlight. My goggles are too scratched up. Here, hold this," Varian said, unceremoniously shoving the scroll into Cassandra's hands as he turned to riffle through his bag. After a moment of digging, he shouted "Aha!" and triumphantly pulled out a prism. 

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "Exactly what kind of stuff do you keep with you, kid?"

"An alchemist never goes anywhere unprepared," he said, beaming. " _Even_ when he gets kidnapped." He snatched the scroll back from Cassandra and used the prism to concentrate a beam of sunlight onto the back of the parchment. Within minutes, Varian had managed to transcribe the entirety of the incantation and scribble it down onto another piece of paper.

And just like that, they finally had the fourth incantation. All they could do now was wait for Rapunzel to show up. They all sat in silence on the balcony, Varian furiously scribbling notes as he mumbled to himself about the scroll while Cassandra stared pensively out into the distance, Zhan Tiri hovering over them like a shadow. Cassandra first encountered the others in the Demanitus Chamber that morning, but now she watched as the sun slowly sank closer to the horizon in the summer sky. Varian must have finished whatever he was working on because he was starting to get fidgety. Cassandra could tell the silence was getting to him. Unlike Zhan Tiri, Varian was compelled to fill the silence with his ramblings.

"So, uh, what now?" Varian asked, fishing for conversation.

"We keep waiting," Cassandra responded curtly.

"Honestly, I'm a little offended that they're not here yet," Varian said only half-jokingly, and Cassandra suppressed a smile. 

"Don't worry kid, they'll come for you."

"Ha, they better," Varian smiled. His bright expression faltered, as if a thought had occurred to him. "Say, Cass. While we're waiting, can I ask...what happened to your arm?"

Cassandra's expression soured. "What about it?"

"How did it happen?" he asked, peering at her with honest curiosity.

"Rapunzel happened," Cassandra said bitterly. Varian looked at her, as if encouraging her to continue. Cassandra sighed and launched into a recounting of their trip through the Great Tree. 

She talked at length about her experience, sharing details about Hector and Adira, the Great Tree itself, and of course, what they discovered about the decay incantation. To her surprise, she found herself talking with ease about her emotional journey, something that she was never comfortable doing before she had taken possession of the Moonstone. She shared that Rapunzel had started to lose faith in Cassandra's judgement, casting her aside and treating her more as a servant and less of a warrior and friend. The familiar feelings of bitterness and pain resurfaced as she continued the story; Rapunzel telling Cassandra that she didn't need her protection anymore, Rapunzel scolding her in front of everyone else when Cassandra was just looking out for their safety, Cassandra being right about her safety concerns, Cassandra reaching for the spear and begging Rapunzel to just trust her for once, Rapunzel ignoring her anyway and using an incantation she knew she couldn't control, Cassandra having to break Rapunzel out of her trance before the Tree collapsed around them, Cassandra suffering the consequences of Rapunzel's actions, Rapunzel refusing to admit that she had done _anything_ that might have been wrong. 

She finished her story and the pair sat in silence for a moment as Varian processed the information and Cassandra struggled to keep her emotions in balance.

"Is that why you're doing all of this?" Varian questioned, gesturing around to the tower. Cassandra caught the double meaning; by this, he meant her quest to take on Zhan Tiri on her own. "Because Rapunzel made you feel like your judgement couldn't be trusted, and you wanted a chance to prove otherwise? Cass, I-"

"Listen kid, I'm done talking about this," Cassandra snapped, shutting down the conversation. Varian nodded once in understanding, respecting her wish not to continue the conversation. "If you're really that bored I have some research from the Spire that you can look through." Varian perked up at the sound of that, excited by the prospect of new information. Cassandra led him back inside to where she kept her bag. She sifted through the contents, and handed Varian some books and scrolls to look through while warning him against touching any of the vials or other contents of the bag. Varian agreed to the terms, clearly disappointed he couldn't look at _everything_ , and started browsing one of the scrolls related to the Sundrop lore. Zhan Tiri was watching Varian with an amused smile as Cassandra made her way back to the balcony to keep watch. 

Before long she saw Rapunzel emerge from the woods into the clearing followed closely by Eugene, Lance, Max, and, to her surprise, Angry and Red. She couldn't believe that they had brought two young children along to what clearly was a dangerous situation; what were they _thinking_?

_They probably aren’t,_ she thought to herself.

"They're here," Cass announced flatly. The group approached the tower’s base, and she watched as they quickly discovered that there was no obvious way inside. Just as Cassandra was about to open up an entrance, she noticed Eugene and Lance start to get...innovative with ways to climb the tower. She paused, deciding she wanted to see just how far their creativity would take them.

And wow, did creativity take them far. They tried everything their minds could come up with, from using tree sap to trying a variety of catapulting techniques. She snickered as they launched Eugene towards the tower, missing it entirely and landing on a tree opposite to them. To his credit, he almost made it that time. Almost. 

At this point Cassandra couldn't contain her hysterical laughter. “I could watch this all day.”

Zhan Tiri approached her on the balcony. She eyed the sun setting in the distance before impatiently turning towards Cass. “Unfortunately you can’t. We have a plan to attend to, so you must let them in.”

Cass looked over and grinned. “Alright, I will. Just let me watch them launch Fitzherbert one more time.” Zhan Tiri rolled her eyes but didn't try to argue. 

They watched as Eugene once again flew through the air.. Zhan Tiri looked impressed.

“Actually, this is quite amusing. I suppose waiting a little while longer wouldn’t hurt.”

Once Cassandra had her fill of amusement, she opened up an entrance at the bottom of the tower and allowed them to begin their long ascent. Her laughter was quickly replaced by the sinking feeling of anxiety about the outcome of their impending confrontation. There was no telling exactly what would happen when she faced Rapunzel. Cassandra really didn't want to hurt anyone if she could avoid it, but something told her she would have to go to extremes if she was going to get Rapunzel to fight back.

Zhan Tiri seemed to pick up on Cassandra's inner turmoil as she studied her facial expression. "Are you prepared to face your princess?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she responded dryly.

"You mustn't hesitate. Don't forget for a moment how much Rapunzel has taken from you," Zhan Tiri pressed her with a pointed smile. "Take those feelings of anger and use them against her. This is your chance to prove to her how powerful you really are" 

"I know," Cass responded, standing up from her position on the balcony. "I won't be holding back."

"I'm counting on it," Zhan Tiri responded with a wolfish grin. 

It took some time, but eventually Rapunzel reached the top of the tower. She ran inside the expansive room with Pascal perched on her shoulder and Eugene following closely behind, the rest of their group nowhere to be found. They sagged with relief when they saw that Varian was safe, sitting on the bench with the scroll and the translation in his hands.

"Oh Varian, thank goodness you're okay!" Rapunzel called out in relief, moving in Varian's direction. Before Varian could respond, he turned in Cassandra's direction as she made her entrance from the balcony.

"Yeah, he's fine." Cassandra cut in as she walked in their direction. Rapunzel and Eugene tensed up at the sight of her. "You made a mistake coming here, you know."

"You know what Cass _an_ dra, visiting your ominous, _insanely_ tall rock tower has been great and all, but we're just going to take Varian here and leave," Eugene said, walking behind Varian and placing his hands on the alchemist’s shoulders in an attempt to guide him out. 

Abruptly, Cassandra used her power to shut all of the openings to the tower, trapping everyone inside. "No one is going anywhere."

"That's fine, because I'm not leaving until we talk and resolve whatever this is," Rapunzel said firmly, taking a step in Cassandra's direction. Cassandra laughed.

"Oh sure, because all of the other chats we've had about my feelings have been _so_ productive," Cassandra retorted.

"That's because you never tell me how you're feeling," Rapunzel insisted in frustration.

"Wrong!" Cassandra snapped. "You've just never listened."

Rapunzel opened her mouth to protest, but to Cassandra's surprise she hesitated. She seemed to think for a moment before her expression fell slightly. "Maybe you're right. Maybe there were times I should have been better about listening to you, and for that I'm sorry. It's just... _please_ Cass. Just talk to me. It's not too late for us to fix this." 

Cassandra was floored. Did she hear that correctly? Was Rapunzel actually admitting some fault and _apologizing_ to her? Her face must have betrayed her incredulity because Zhan Tiri decided to take that moment to intervene. 

"Questioning your path, are you?" Zhan Tiri challenged, her expression calm and composed as ever. Cassandra flinched and turned towards the ghost.

"No, I wasn't," Cassandra defended..

"She's trying to trick you with false promises. You saw for yourself just how much she values your ' _friendship_ ', so quit holding back and finish this," Zhan Tiri demanded.

"I am _not_ holding back. I told you I can handle this," she snapped at the ghost.

"Oh, good. Her imaginary friend is here too." Cass whipped her head in Eugene's direction with a withering look. Varian was slouching next to him, as if he wanted to be anywhere but here.

it was time for Cassandra to be decisive and take back control over the situation, or else she risked the possibility of this encounter spiraling. As she stared back at the gathering of the people (and ghost) around her, she considered her options. Clearly she needed to make the first strike. 

"You know what? We've chatted long enough," Cassandra spat, and she sent a barrage of the black rocks in Rapunzel's direction. She dove out of the way and turned to look at Cassandra incredulously. 

"Cass, stop!" Rapunzel pleaded. "I'm not going to fight you." Cassandra took a look at Rapunzel's long golden hair tied up behind her, and she suddenly had an idea.

"Don't wanna fight? Then don't fight." With that Cassandra shot out a pillar from the floor below Rapunzel, smashing her against the ceiling. Varian and Eugene gasped in horror, but Cassandra knew that Rapunzel was just fine. As expected her hair had formed a protective barrier around her, and when the blonde locks fell away she did not look happy. Zhan Tiri, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear. 

"What has gotten into you?" Rapunzel shouted. "Look at me! You _know_ me Cassandra. I have always supported you, and somewhere inside, you know this isn't right. Please, stop this and just come back home with us."

"Why, so I can go back to being your lady-in-waiting?" Cassandra asked bitterly, striking once again in Rapunzel's direction with the black rocks. Cass leaned farther into her anger, letting it fuel the opal's power as she attacked Rapunzel with a barrage of rocks. "You just want everything to go back to the way things were before? Well, it _can’t_ , and I don’t want it to. You treated me as a _servant_ , not as your friend. So go ahead, erase me from your paintings, and erase me from your life, but what you can’t do is erase the past and things that happened between us."

Cassandra punctuated her words by shooting an array of jagged spikes at Rapunzel, forcefully pinning her against the wall of the room.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene cried out as he lunged toward his girlfriend, Varian pulling him back.

"Cass, please! This is not who you are!” Rapunzel exclaimed. “I won't fight you, I won't justify your hatred, and there's _nothing_ you can do to change that. _Nothing_."

Cassandra stared back at Rapunzel's defiant look, and she realized she needed to change tactics. Physically attacking her wasn't enough. She needed to raise the stakes.

Eugene managed to pull free from Varian and started to move in Rapunzel's direction. An idea dawned on Cass. Rapunzel wouldn't act in her own self defense, but she would _absolutely_ act in defense of Eugene.

"Oh, there isn't? 'Cause I kind of think there is," Cassandra smirked. She turned to look at Eugene and clenched her hand into a fist, trapping his entire body below his neck in a tight cocoon of the black rocks.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel cried out.

"You won't fight me, but will you fight for him?" Cassandra asked pointedly, looking at Rapunzel for an answer.

"Cass, leave him alone!" Rapunzel begged.

"Break her spirit!" Zhan Tiri cheered with glee.

"Don't give into her! Don't do anything she says!" Eugene called out to Rapunzel, struggling against the rocks that held him. Cassandra clenched her fist tighter, slowly crushing Eugene in the rocks’ grip. 

"Time is ticking, Raps. Fight back, or Eugene here pays the price."

Rapunzel looked conflicted, and Cassandra smiled when she realized it was working. This was exactly the push that she had needed. Cass glanced at Varian and noticed how he stood frozen in place as he stared at the scene unfolding before him, the translation of the scroll still clutched tightly in his hand. Cassandra shot some smaller rocks out around his ankles to get his attention. He looked over at her and Cassandra nodded once, encouraging him to share the incantation.

"Rapunzel! I have the final incantation. You have to use it!" Varian cried out, running towards her and holding out the scroll. Pascal reached out with his tongue to retrieve the incantation and held it out for Rapunzel to read. Even then, Rapunzel continued to hesitate as she silently read over the incantation. Cassandra summoned more rocks in a threatening display, looking to push the others into action.

"Rapunzel! Use it!" Varian insisted again, and something in Rapunzel's face shifted.

"Power of the sun, gift me with your light," she began, and Cassandra smirked. She had done it. "Shine into the dark, restore our fading sight."

Rapunzel continued to recite the words to the incantation, speaking them with growing confidence as she floated in the air. As she spoke her hair began to glow with an intense yellow light, building and building until it reached a crescendo, until it burst explosively from her in all directions. The explosion of energy decimated a number of Cassandra's black rocks, even taking out one of the walls of the room. Clearly, the full power of the Sundrop was a force to be reckoned with. As Rapunzel finished the words, she slowly drifted down to the ground, still radiating with light and power.

"Finish this!" Zhan Tiri exclaimed with a grin. Rapunzel took a step in Cassandra's direction, her hair floating behind her in shimmering waves above the ground.

"Let him go, Cassandra," Rapunzel demanded.

"Now that's more like it," Cassandra said with a smirk, prepared for a good fight. Cassandra felt the power of the opal pulse in her chest and she unleashed its power, no longer holding back as she summoned a cascade of jagged rocks in Rapunzel's direction.

"I said let him go!" she demanded again, another burst of yellow energy erupting from her. The blast had once again decimated Cassandra's new wave of rocks. The glowing light continued to radiate from Rapunzel in waves, cutting through the air and the rocks alike as they moved toward Cassandra. 

Cassandra fired back at Rapunzel’s newfound power with the full force of the Moonstone, immensely pleased by the challenge of the fight. She had been itching for a good fight and an excuse to test the limits of her abilities. The two young women were on equal footing now, the powers of the Sundrop and the Moonstone evenly matched and fully activated. They were sending a series of strikes against each other, their powers clashing in the middle of the cavernous room.

In the explosive flashes of vibrant yellow and electric blue light, Cassandra nearly missed the flash of purple that erupted above the ground in the center of the room. She looked away for a moment to see what appeared to be a purple orb suspended midair, distorting the space around it. She didn’t understand what was happening until she saw Zhan Tiri disappear into the sphere, smirking at Cassandra before she vanished into a violent flash of violet light.

Cassandra had done it. Her part in Zhan Tiri’s plan was complete. Now it was time to extract herself from this situation before Zhan Tiri could return.

"Let him go!" Rapunzel demanded again as she backed off from her attack, noticing that Cassandra had become distracted.

"If you insist," Cassandra said through gritted teeth. She released Eugene from the grip of her rocks and Rapunzel ran to him, the light starting to fade from her hair. Before anyone else could react, Cassandra summoned a rock out from the wall for herself to hold onto as she opened up the floor beneath everyone. With a yelp they quickly started to fall, Cassandra creating a slide beneath them that would transport them safely to a lower floor. Once they had slid down an appreciable distance, Cassandra resealed the floor along with the rest of the room, preventing anyone else from reentering the space.

Now left alone at the top of her tower, Cassandra looked up to the space where the air continued to crackle with small bolts of violet light. All that was left to do was wait.

She was still finding it hard to believe that she had actually gone through with this plan to free Zhan Tiri. Cass reminded herself that Zhan Tiri breaking free was inevitable and that she had now proven herself worthy of the sorceress’s trust, something that would help her in the long run, but that didn’t change the fact that her actions and their potential consequences weighed heavily on her.

All Cassandra could do now was hope that she wasn’t making a _huge_ mistake.


	12. And Then There Were Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh whoops, sorry that this is a day late but writing this took a bit longer than i anticipated. thanks again for all of the comments and kudos, they really make my day!! enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think :)

Cassandra started out into the cavernous room anxiously waiting for something to happen. Fortunately, she didn’t need to wait long. She watched as the glowing sphere of purple light that had formed during the explosive clashing of the Sundrop and Moonstone slowly descended towards the ground, sparking and crackling with energy. As it approached the floor, it suddenly erupted with brilliant rays of violet light that illuminated the entire space. Cassandra shielded her eyes from the blinding light, and when she turned back she found Zhan Tiri standing there in its place. 

The ghostly, monochrome blue form that Cassandra had grown accustomed to was long gone. The sorceress now stood before her completely grounded in physical reality and in full color. Her hair was colored the same lovely shade of lavender that Cassandra remembered seeing in Zhan Tiri's memories, and her eyes were a striking shade of violet that matched the color of the gemstone adorned on her forehead. Her skin was nearly as pale as Cassandra's unnatural pallor and stood out in stark contrast against the frilly black and grey dress she wore. 

"Finally," Zhan Tiri began with a sinister grin. "The clash of sun and moon has released me from my prison. It's good to be back."

She straightened the black gloves she wore, basking in the feeling of her newfound corporeality. The sight of Zhan Tiri standing before her like this caused Cassandra's feeling of dread to grow in the pit of her stomach as she processed the severity of her actions. For better or worse Zhan Tiri was free, and there was no going back now. 

Noticing Cassandra's silence, Zhan Tiri considered her conflicted expression and smiled. "You did well, Cassandra." Cass’s feeling of regret intensified. 

"Great. Mind telling me what comes next, or are you gonna keep me guessing?" Cassandra asked irritably. 

"So impatient," Zhan Tiri admonished with an amused smile. "I will tell you, as promised. But first, it looks like we still have company."

At her words, Cassandra whipped around to find that they did in fact have company. Varian stood awkwardly by the bench behind her, shifting uncomfortably at the mention of his presence. Cassandra was caught completely off guard.  _ Why was he still here? _ She thought that she had kicked him out alongside Rapunzel and Eugene. He was supposed to be getting a head-start on their plan, working from the safety of his lab. He was most certainly  _ not _ supposed to be interacting with Zhan Tiri directly. Cassandra was suddenly afraid of where this encounter would end up going.

"What are you still doing here?!" Cassandra snapped, horrified that he was still here.

"I-I panicked," Varian stuttered nervously. "The ground opened up, I grabbed the bench, suddenly Rapunzel and Eugene were sliding away, the ground closed back up and, well, here we are!"

"You're not supposed to be here," she hissed. 

"Actually, I'm glad that you're still here," Zhan Tiri said smiling, gently placing a hand on Cassandra's shoulder as if signalling her to back off. Cassandra whipped her head in the sorceress's direction and didn't like the expression she saw. Zhan Tiri was leveling Varian with a calculating look, as if he could be a powerful pawn in her game if she played her cards just right. "I'm afraid we haven't met yet. Well, met properly, that is."

"I-I, uh, we've met?" Varian stammered. A look of realization crossed his face, and he stared back at the purple-haired woman in a mix of horror and fascination. "Wait, yes, I recognize you now, y-you were in my dream about the scroll. Y-You're  _ Zhan Tiri _ , aren't you?" 

"The pleasure is all mine, really," Zhan Tiri responded pleasantly. Cassandra tensed as she watched the interaction unfold. The two of them seemed to be studying each other, sizing the other up. "You did an admirable job deciphering the fourth incantation earlier. I haven’t met someone with such a talent for alchemy since my dear old friend Demanitus."

"Oh, uh, wow, I-" Varian stammered, squirming under Zhan Tiri's intense stare.

"What do you want with him?" Cassandra demanded, cutting to the chase. Varian seemed relieved by her intervention. 

"Tell me, young alchemist, what do you know of the Sundrop? It appears that you are well versed in the legends," Zhan Tiri queried, her smile never faltering.

"I know  _ plenty _ about the Sundrop. I've been researching it for years now, and I-" Varian caught himself before he could continue rambling. "Wait, uh, why? What does the Sundrop have to do with anything?"

"The Sundrop has to do with  _ everything _ , my dear. There is so much more we have yet to learn, so many questions left unanswered. If you would be willing to assist in our research, Cassandra and I could use your help."

"That's all you want? Just my help on researching the Sundrop?" Varian inquired. Zhan Tiri nodded once in affirmation. Varian opened his mouth as if he was going to make a retort, but hesitated. He seemed to mull over Zhan Tiri's words for a second before turning to look at Cassandra. After staring at her for a moment, his expression hardened with resolve and he turned back toward Zhan Tiri. 

"Alright then. Just some research on the Sundrop, that's harmless enough," Varian babbled, as if trying to justify his decision to himself. Zhan Tiri smirked. "Sure, I can help with that. Although I don't know what it is you're looking for, the documents that Cass got from the Spire looked like they had a pretty complete background on the Sundrop. I have some other old manuscripts as well as some of my own independent research back in my lab that might be useful."

"Excellent," Zhan Tiri said, beaming. "Collect anything that might be relevant to the legend of the Sundrop. We can reconvene here in the morning and compare notes. In the meantime, Cassandra and I have our own errand to run."

"An errand?" Cassandra asked skeptically. What was she talking about? Cassandra could feel the building frustration as she recognized how much the sorceress had not yet shared with her. Cass had expected Zhan Tiri to give her all of the answers after once freed, but Cassandra still got the distinct feeling that she was still being yanked on a chain while blindfolded. Zhan Tiri ignored her question and continued to look at Varian for a response.

"Uh, sure! I can head back to my lab now and see what I can find," Varian said, preparing to leave. He paused when he remembered that there was no way out of the room. "Well, I'll head back as soon as there's a way to leave this room that's not jumping through the hole in the wall and falling to my doom."

Cassandra grit her teeth. "Sounds like we're all leaving, then. Give me a minute and I can get us out of here." She shot a pointed look at Zhan Tiri before turning to gather her belongings. Zhan Tiri followed after her and started digging through Cassandra's bag, pulling out some of her belongings to carry along with her. After a moment she triumphantly pulled out her boomerang and Cassandra had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. 

Once they were all set, they gathered at the edge of the balcony. Cassandra created a platform out of the black rocks and used it as an elevator to safely lower them to the bottom of the tower. The three of them left the clearing together in tense silence. Cassandra was not thrilled with the situation. There was so much that was outside of her control, and she was deeply unsettled by Zhan Tiri's attempt to bring Varian into the fold. Cassandra had no idea what Zhan Tiri intended to do with Varian, and that made her nervous. She suspected that Varian was going along with it for Cassandra's sake, but Cassandra was certain that Varian didn't recognize how delicate the situation he had gotten himself into truly was. All Cassandra could do now was hope that he had enough sense to play along until their next opportunity to talk in private, and that he knew better than to involve anyone else in this mess.

Shortly after entering the woods, Zhan Tiri started to head in the opposite direction from Varian. Before they could split, Cassandra turned to Varian and leveled him with a serious look.

"Don't even think about running to Rapunzel about this," Cassandra warned. Varian looked at her, then looked at Zhan Tiri, then back at Cassandra. He nodded once in understanding.

"Alright, I won't say a word," Varian promised, and Cassandra relaxed slightly. "I'm just going to get the manuscripts, and then I'll meet you guys back here in the morning."

With that, Varian walked purposefully in the direction of Old Corona while Zhan Tiri continued walking deeper into the woods. Cassandra followed her and once she was certain Varian was out of earshot, she turned toward Zhan Tiri with an unpleasant look.

"What was that about?" she snapped. Zhan Tiri looked at her with a bemused smile.

"I know an opportunity when I see one. The alchemist has so much potential beyond just merely being your hostage. He could be quite useful to us," Zhan Tiri mused. 

"Useful for what exactly?" Cassandra snarled, fed up with Zhan Tiri's cryptic tendencies. "Look Zhan, I'm done blindly following you. You said we would talk after I released you from your prison, and I did that. In less than two days, by the way.  _ You're welcome _ . Now, will you tell me what the hell it is you have planned?"

To Cassandra's annoyance, her outburst only seemed to amuse the sorceress further. "You are a smart girl, Cassandra. Tell me, what is it that you think I have planned?"

" _ I don't know _ ," Cassandra bit out in frustration. She was beyond sick of Zhan Tiri's games. "You keep saying that your goal is to destroy Corona, but you don't seem to be in any rush to do that. There's something else you have planned, and you're waiting for it before you strike Corona."

"You should have learned by now that destroying Corona is not my only goal," Zhan Tiri chided. "Tell me, my dear. What is it that I want?"

_ What else could Zhan Tiri possibly want? _ Cassandra mulled the question over for a moment as they walked, then the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "You want the Sundrop. That's why you told Varian to grab his research on it."

"Precisely," Zhan Tiri said, beaming. "I have dedicated my life to this search, and I do not intend to stop now."

"And let me guess, you have some grand plan on how to accomplish that," Cassandra said darkly.

"You will find that two millennia is plenty of time to prepare a plan or two," Zhan Tiri replied with a tight smile. "You see, there is a golden opportunity coming up to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak; a total solar eclipse."

"An eclipse?" Cassandra asked, frowning. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"During the solar eclipse, the moon will block out the light of the sun and temporarily render the Sundrop defenseless. That will give us the opportunity to extract the Sundrop from Rapunzel, and I will use its power to destroy Corona and fulfill my promise to Demanitus," Zhan Tiri explained with a sinister smile. That was not the response Cassandra was expecting.

"Wait, you're gonna use the  _ Sundrop _ to destroy Corona? Wouldn't it be easier for me to do it with the Moonstone?" 

"My dear, there is more to the Sundrop than simply healing and a nice light show," Zhan Tiri said deviously. "It is every bit as destructive as the Moonstone. Both are equally powerful sources of celestial magic with capabilities far different from any magic sourced from the Earth. Surely you have learned by now that the power of the Moonstone goes beyond simply controlling the black rocks." Cassandra thought back to her time at the Dark Kingdom when she was learning to control her powers, remembering how her strong emotions elicited unpredictable responses from the Moonstone that were beyond her control, such as her fear and the red rocks. 

"There is still so much for you to learn about the power you wield," Zhan Tiri continued. "Similarly, there is still more for us to learn about the Sundrop. Which brings us here."

Zhan Tiri paused as they approached the wood's end and Cassandra stopped beside her. Cass looked out before her and was struck by a strong sense of deja vu. There was a small cottage that was nestled on a quaint island by the side of a cascading waterfall and worn down mill. Cassandra recognized it immediately as Gothel's cottage, her previously forgotten childhood home. Where the cottage had once looked to be the picture of serenity, it was now a chilling sight, the abandoned and dilapidated building looking particularly ominous under the cover of night. 

Cassandra bristled. "Why are we  _ here _ ?"

"I am looking for some more information on the approaching eclipse, and I suspect that we will be able to find those answers here. No one knew the Sundrop quite like your mother," Zhan Tiri explained, and Cassandra's mood soured at the mention of Gothel. 

Cassandra took a deep breath and sighed, bracing herself. "Fine. Let's just get this over with."

With that, Zhan Tiri sauntered forward. They entered the building and Cassandra was struck by how... _ haunting _ the cottage was. Its interior was dark and covered in overgrown vines, cobwebs and dust coated nearly every surface. There were broken and aged objects scattered about, evidence that the place was inhabited once long ago. Cassandra lingered in the front room as Zhan Tiri moved farther into the cottage, taking in the sight. Cassandra froze when she noticed the remains of a broken music box on the ground, the same music box she watched her younger self drop in horror as she realized her mother had abandoned her. The sight of the shattered box on the ground served as a reminder that the memories Zhan Tiri showed her back in the House of Yesterday's tomorrow were undeniably true.

Noticing that the music box’s mechanical cylinder was still intact, Cassandra gingerly picked it up and examined its golden exterior. She closed her eyes and clutched it in her hand, fighting against her instinct to bury her feelings. The memories associated with the cottage dredged up her feelings of insecurity and abandonment, and for once Cassandra let herself acknowledge her pain instead of pushing it to the side. After a moment Cassandra noticed Zhan Tiri lingering at a distance. She seemed to be waiting patiently, giving Cassandra some time and space to process her surroundings. When Cassandra was ready, she placed the cylinder in her bag and nodded once at Zhan Tiri to continue. 

Zhan Tiri moved farther into the back of the cottage and revealed a secret passage to an intricate tunnel system. Cassandra marveled at the complexity of it all as Zhan Tiri led her deeper into the dark. It appeared to be a distinct set of tunnels that formed a network deep within the mountains. Cassandra decided that if she ever had the opportunity, she would come back one day and map the tunnels herself. 

Their descent went smoothly until they entered a massive cavern, its exit blocked by massive boulders. 

"I got this," Cassandra said. She extended her hand out and shot a black rock out at the blockage, effectively clearing the path. She smiled smugly until she noticed poison gas leaking through the cracks that her rocks had opened in the ground. Before she could flee the cavern through the new opening, she noticed Zhan Tiri smirk at her.

"Allow me," Zhan Tiri said with a confident smile. She extended her hand in front of her and seemed to focus her attention to the ground. For a brief moment nothing happened, and then the floor slowly began to stitch itself back together, plugging the gas leak. Zhan Tiri smiled triumphantly and pulled her hand back, clearly responsible for the act. Cassandra was once again struck by the reminder that Zhan Tiri was no longer incorporeal, and had likely regained full command of her powers. What did that mean exactly? Cassandra had no idea. She suspected that she had only witnessed the tip of the iceberg, and that terrified her. 

The pair continued onward until they came upon a nondescript wooden door. By the way Zhan Tiri smiled, this place must have been their destination. She opened the door and the two of them walked inside to find what was once obviously Gothel's private quarters. The cavernous space was full of her possessions, including dozens or mirrors and a massive self-portrait above a fireplace. There were bookshelves, cabinets full of chemicals, and an expansive wall covered entirely with scrolls and pieces of parchment. Upon closer inspection, Cassandra recognized that the notes and drawings were research related to the Sundrop and Moonstone.

"I'm guessing this is what you were looking for?" Cassandra asked, gesturing to the collection.

"We shall see. I'm looking specifically for information on the eclipse. Total solar eclipses are rare events, happening in the same location approximately every four-hundred years or so. While I know there is one happening in the near future, I'm afraid I don't know the exact timing yet. Gothel knew that an eclipse could be used to extract the Sundrop's power, and she was in possession of a copy of the incantation needed to perform the extraction. I suspect that after she lost her flower, she likely pinned down the exact date of the eclipse so she could take back its power from Rapunzel," Zhan Tiri explained. She continued to scrutinize the research on the wall until her eyes drifted to a drawing of a solar eclipse on the left side of the collection. Triumphantly she pulled down the documents that were pinned underneath the symbol.

The collection of papers she held seemed to consist of some star charts and notes scribbled in an ancient language. Judging by the grin on Zhan Tiri's face, it must have been exactly what she was looking for. "Excellent, it's all here. It appears the eclipse is a month out from today."

"That soon, huh?" Cassandra asked, dread coursing through her. One month wasn't exactly a whole lot of time for Cassandra and Varian to develop and implement a plan of their own. It was also starting to dawn on Cassandra that if she had just stalled for one more month, they would have missed the eclipse entirely. Oh well. They were here now, and there was no going back.

Zhan Tiri continued to look through Gothel's collection of research. As she picked out some more documents, Cassandra lost interest in the research she could not understand and began to wander around the room as she waited. She looked through the items in the room, gently reaching out to touch one of the elegant mirrors that were scattered throughout the room.

Cassandra jumped when the image of Gothel appeared in the mirror at her touch. It quickly became evident that all of the mirrors in the room were records of memories, and that Gothel had used them as a diary of sorts. To confirm her theory Cassandra walked around the room and touched a few of the mirrors, transfixed by the scenes they depicted. The more she watched and listened, the clearer it became what kind of horrible and vain person her mother really was. 

The last mirror she touched showed Gothel bragging to herself about the compliments she received at the market that day. Her musings were interrupted by the sound of sweeping and she watched the expression on Gothel's face sour. Suddenly Gothel turned toward the source of the sound, revealing a four-year old Cassandra holding a broom. The raven-haired woman scolded her daughter for sweeping too loudly, and Cassandra's heart broke as she watched her younger self walk away in dejected silence.

Cassandra was done watching. The last thing she wanted was the reminder that no matter how hard she worked, she was never enough. 

"That woman was never deserving of the title of 'Mother'. She never cared for anything beyond her own vanity," Zhan Tiri said, startling Cass out of her thoughts. Cassandra hadn't noticed Zhan Tiri finishing her search. Cass had no idea how long she had been standing there beside her, but judging by the look of sympathy on her face, it had been long enough. 

"You know, there was always a part of me that wondered where I came from," Cassandra began bitterly. "Nothing against my dad or anything, it's just something I was always curious about, especially after meeting Rapunzel. She was missing for eighteen years, and then she found out she was the Lost Princess, was reunited with her parents, and got this incredible happy ending. It's the kind of thing you read about in fairy-tales, but that was her reality. Then even Eugene Fitzherbert met his dad, and it turns out that Eugene's a prince and his dad gave him up because he thought he was protecting him. And then, where do  _ I _ come from? This.  _ This _ is where I come from. This is what I get, this  _ monster _ who abandoned her own child to take someone else's." 

Zhan Tiri considered Cassandra with an unreadable expression. "It doesn't matter where you come from, Cassandra. Your past does not define your destiny."

"How can you be so sure?" Cassandra whispered.

"I have been alive a long time, Cassandra, and if I have learned one thing it is that we all write our own destinies," Zhan Tiri said. "Your destiny is your own. Not Gothel's. Not Rapunzel's.  _ Yours _ ."

"Oh yeah? And what destiny is that?" Cassandra countered.

"That is for you to decide," Zhan Tiri responded with a shrug, surprising Cassandra. "As I have said before, you remind me of myself. You share my ambition, my drive to leave a mark on this world. And you have worked hard, but to what end? To prove your worth to an uncaring kingdom, such that they might show you a shred of respect and admiration? Believe me when I say that working to meet the expectations of others will only bring you pain. When you do that, you surrender your control over your life. You need to decide for yourself who you are and what you want, and work to meet your  _ own _ expectations. That is how I have come so far. I promise you will find fulfillment in living for yourself, and not for anyone else's perception of you. Only you and you alone know what you are worth."

Cassandra stood there in silence as she processed Zhan Tiri's words. Before she could even think to form a response, Zhan Tiri gestured for Cassandra to follow her. "I have found everything I need. Let's head back to the tower, shall we?"

"Sure," Cass sighed, glad to drop the heavy topic of conversation. She followed Zhan Tiri out of the room and did not spare a second look behind her. As they walked down the corridor, they passed a gaping hole in the floor, and Cassandra paused. She reached into her bag and pulled out the music box’s golden cylinder. After one last look at the reminder of her childhood, she extended her arm out over the hole and let it drop from her hand, watching quietly as it fell into the dark depths of the cavern.

Cassandra never knew that the act of letting go could feel so liberating. 

* * *

The walk back to the tower was comfortably silent. Cassandra still found it strange that Zhan Tiri was no longer a ghost floating beside her. Her steps were purposeful and confident as they walked through the forest. They entered the clearing just as dawn was breaking on the horizon, and Cassandra was surprised to see that Varian was already at the base of the tower. He was now joined by Ruddiger, who was happily perched on his shoulder.

"Someone looks impatient," Cassandra observed.

"You would think that we’ve been keeping him waiting for two millennia," Zhan Tiri remarked dryly. Cassandra turned to look at Zhan Tiri in amusement. 

"Did you just make a joke? Wow, I never thought I'd see the day."

As soon as the words left her mouth, vines suddenly wrapped tightly around Cassandra's ankles, and she promptly face-planted. Zhan Tiri was the one laughing now.

"Believe it or not, I do know how humor works, Cassandra," Zhan Tiri grinned. The vines receded and Zhan Tiri extended her hand to help Cassandra up.

"Yes. Very funny," Cassandra muttered sarcastically, accepting her outstretched hand. Varian was looking quizzically at the two of them as they approached, practically vibrating with impatience. It was clear he had been waiting here awhile. 

"Kid, did you even sleep?" Cassandra asked him, frowning.

"You guys didn't sleep," Varian countered defensively.

"I don't need to sleep anymore because of the Moonstone, and she was literally imprisoned in a void for two thousand years. You don't have an excuse."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Not wanting to climb all of the stairs again, Cassandra created another platform to lift the three of them back to the top of the tower. They entered the room, and Zhan Tiri and Varian went straight to work laying out all of their collective manuscripts. In the meantime, Cassandra took the opportunity to repair the damage that was done to the tower during her battle with Rapunzel. When she was finished, the two of them were just about done organizing all of the research.

"So, this is all the research that I have collected on the Sundrop," Varian explained as he placed the last of his scrolls out on the table before them. "Now, what information are you looking for exactly?"

Zhan Tiri pointed to the documents that she had just collected from Gothel's cottage. "What do you know of how the Sundrop's power is transferred between hosts?"

"H-How its power is transferred?" Varian stuttered, clearly unsettled by the implications of the question. "Well, I mean, I'm not entirely sure. I know that the Sundrop's magic was extracted from the flower and now lives in Rapunzel herself, but beyond that I have no idea how that transfer of power would work."

"Transferring the magic of the Sundrop between hosts isn't quite as simple as it is for the Moonstone," Zhan Tiri explained. Cassandra clutched at the opal defensively as the two of them turned to look at it. "While the power of the moon is directly hosted in that opal, it appears that the power of the sun must be directly hosted in something, or someone, that is alive. As you can imagine, using a stone as a source of magic is far simpler than relying on a living being."

Varian nodded as he thought through it. "The Sundrop and Moonstone are fundamentally opposites, so it makes sense that their powers can't be directly hosted in the same kind of medium." He continued to ramble on some of his theories, supporting them with the documents in front of him. The conversation quickly became an intense academic discussion, one of them sharing their thoughts and insights while the other either challenged those assumptions or built upon their ideas.

Cassandra listened to the discussion in amazement, trying to process the strange scene before her. When she decided to bring Varian into the fold, she never imagined  _ this _ happening. Varian even looked like he was having fun. 

They continued to talk in depth about the Sundrop and Moonstone, discussing the eclipse and the mechanics by which magic can be transferred between different hosts and magic sources.

"Wait," Varian said suddenly, as if a thought had just occurred to him. "Actually, I don't think the Sundrop needs a  _ living _ host, per se."

"Do tell.”

"So hear me out. You said when the drop of moonlight fell from the heavens, it fell into  _ that _ opal and became hosted in that specific material, right? But if that's the case, it can't be that the Moonstone represents death. If it did, it would be hosted in some type of dead organic material, like coal or black shale or something."

"Then what do you believe it represents?" Zhan Tiri questioned.

"I'm thinking that instead of representing death, the power of the Moonstone more generally represents life's  _ absence _ . That's why its power can be hosted in the opal. An opal is just an amorphous mineraloid of hydrated silica; it's an  _ inorganic _ material that was never alive to begin with. So based on that logic, my theory is that the Sundrop doesn't need a  _ living _ host; it needs an  _ organic _ host. And if that's the case, we could probably construct a makeshift stone from some kind of durable organic material, that way the power of the Sundrop could be wielded in the same manner as the Moonstone." 

"How can you be sure?" Cassandra asked, not following Varian’s logic.

"Well, I'm not sure, to be completely honest. It’s just a hypothesis. But take the case of Rapunzel's hair - it's the organic material in which the Sundrop expresses its magic, right? Hair isn't  _ alive, _ yet it’s still capable of channeling the sun's magic in the same way that the opal channels that of the moon."

"So you're suggesting that you could make a stone of sorts capable of hosting the Sundrop's power? Certainly it can't be easy to construct such a material," Zhan Tiri commented. Cassandra raised an eyebrow as she realized that the sorceress was playing to Varian's ego. It was strange to see Zhan Tiri work her manipulation on someone besides herself. 

Varian snorted. "Of course it's easy." 

"Still, it would have to at least take a month," Zhan Tiri probed.

"Give me two weeks and I can do it," Varian said with a confident smile. Cassandra couldn't believe how easily Varian agreed to the task. There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation.

“I have to say, I’m impressed,” Zhan Tiri said with a smile and Varian just about burst with pride. Cassandra felt bad; all Varian ever wanted was to make someone proud of him, but this was  _ not _ the person he should be trying to impress. "How soon can you start?"

"Well, I can head back to my lab now and get started. I think I might have some ideas of materials that could potentially work," Varian said.

"Excellent. Cassandra, why don't you accompany Varian to his lab and provide some assistance?"

"You mean you're not coming?" Cassandra asked skeptically. Was she really trusting Cassandra to go with Varian without her supervision? It couldn’t be that easy. 

"I will remain here for now. It's been a while since I had the opportunity to train, and I'm afraid my skills have become rather rusty. You two go on ahead," Zhan Tiri said, smiling pointedly. 

Cassandra was suspicious, but she also didn't need to be told twice. "Alright then, if you insist. Come on kid, let’s head out"

With that, Cassandra led Varian out of the tower before Zhan Tiri could change her mind. She didn’t dare speak a word to him until they exited the clearing, paranoid that Zhan Tiri would somehow be able to overhear them. Once her nerves subsided, she turned towards Varian.

“You should’ve left with Rapunzel and Eugene,” Cassandra said flatly. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“Well, we’re here now,” Varian said, gesturing around him. “But look on the bright side, we can actually get started with our work now that it’s just the two of us!”

“That’s true, but I feel weird that she’s letting us go without her supervision. She literally has been watching my every move for the past year,” Cassandra said, frowning. It was strange not having to worry about Zhan Tiri materializing out of thin air. However, it was quickly becoming evident that she had traded the ghost that lived in her head for the overexcited teenage alchemist.

“She sure is something, eh?”

Cassandra looked at Varian pointedly. "She's something alright. You do remember that the plan is to stop her, right? Not to help her?"

"Yeah, of course! It's just, I've never met someone who knows so much about everything. Talking with her was fascinating. Not to toot my own horn, but I've never met anyone else who knows even a  _ fraction _ of the amount of alchemy that I know."

"Yeah, and Zhan Tiri knows that fact too. She knows that if she plays into your nerdiness you'll start to like her, and you'll be easier for her to manipulate. You need to be careful," Cassandra warned.

"I will be," Varian promised. "But hey, uh, Cass? While we’re on the topic of being careful. Don’t take this the wrong way, I love the new look and all, but it’s not the most... _ subtle _ look for walking through Old Corona during the daytime.”

Cassandra frowned. “Yeah, you have a point. Give me one second.” She pulled out the cloak from her bag and draped it over her shoulders, focusing on an image in her mind. Her appearance slightly shifted, her hair now returned to its original black color and her armor of black rock replaced by the maroon colored outfit she used to wear regularly. Varian raised an eyebrow at the sight. 

“Interesting cloak, but Cass, c’mon. Moonstone or not, your face is still on wanted posters all over the kingdom, even in Old Corona.”

"Wanted posters?" she asked. That was news to her. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did. “Nevermind. You know what? I’m just gonna stay like this, and wrap myself in a regular cloak, like a  _ normal _ person who’s sneaking around. That won’t be the strangest thing Old Corona has ever seen.”

“You know what, that’s fair," Varian said as Cassandra concealed herself in a cloak. “Also, I’ve been thinking. I have some old books that belonged to Demanitus, and I remember reading something about the portal that he had designed. It could be a good place to start searching for answers. We can take a look at it as soon as we get to my lab.”

"You know what, this is already more of a plan than I've had in months," Cassandra said with a half smile. She was excited by the prospect of starting to gain traction with some sort of plan. For the first time in a long time, Cassandra felt hopeful. 

Maybe things were finally falling into place after all.


	13. Another Point of View

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!! sorry that this is a bit late; as a result chapter 14 might be a bit delayed, but hopefully i'll get it up by this coming monday. either way, this chapter was a blast to write. it's the only one not written from cassandra's perspective, so i hope you enjoy :D

The Captain of the Guard felt as if the past few days had aged him several years. Before, he had thought he knew weariness, but the mental fatigue he felt sitting in this meeting room was unparalleled to anything he had ever experienced. As he looked at the faces collected around him, he noticed that most looked haggard. All gathered for an urgent meeting, the topic of which weighed heavily on the Captain. 

_ Cassandra. _

The thought of his daughter sent a pang of heartache through his chest. The King had called the group together to discuss the...events that occurred a few days ago to devise a plan on how to proceed. The meeting began with a debrief from Princess Rapunzel and Fitzherbert where they recounted their experiences on what had happened; how Cassandra had unexpectedly turned up in Rapunzel's bedroom demanding the Demanitus Scroll, the subsequent encounter with Cassandra in the Demanitus Chamber where she had knocked them all unconscious and seized the scroll, and ended with a brief summary of their confrontation with Cassandra in her newly erected tower. When pressed by the King, Eugene reluctantly detailed how Cassandra had seemingly attempted to kill both himself and Rapuznel.

As Eugene spoke about Cassandra’s attempt to crush him and Rapunzel with the power of the black rocks, the Captain had to wonder: how far had Cassandra fallen?

While he trusted that Eugene and Rapunzel were telling the truth, he still found it hard to believe that Cassandra would go as far as to attempt to kill them. Once upon a time he would have sworn vehemently that his daughter was not capable of such an action, but after his last encounter with her, he wasn't sure what to think. His thoughts turned back to the last time he encountered Cassandra, back when he had confronted her far beyond the walls of Corona before she ran off again. He remembered his shock at the sight of the drastic change in her appearance, the visual confirmation that she had in fact turned her back on the princess and on Corona. Yet even then, the Captain still got the impression that Cassandra was still in there, still in her right mind. She seemed reasonable and level-headed...up until the moment she addressed someone who wasn't there. That sudden shift had frightened him, especially when that moment seemed to spiral her into a fit of rage. 

Could it be that the Moonstone had driven Cassandra into madness? That was what King Edmund and the Brotherhood seemed to believe, at least. The Captain looked across the room at Edmund, who had decided to remain in Corona to spend time with his son while the Moonstone was still at large. The Dark King had spoken at length about the Moonstone and its inherently evil and destructive tendencies. He believed that by acting as its vessel, the opal had corrupted Cassandra and driven her to insanity and malevolence. Edmund and his knights spoke on more than one occasion about how bad it was that the opal had accepted Cassandra as a host, emphasizing how she was dangerous and unpredictable at best, and how important it was to stop her at all costs. 

While the Captain's encounter with Cassandra certainly seemed to suggest some level of instability, the Captain had his doubts. He knew his daughter, and he knew that she was too strong-willed and stubborn to ever be "corrupted" in such a manner. Something about all of this wasn't adding up, he just didn't know what it was. Despite that, he promised himself that he would do everything in his power to do right by his daughter and bring her home. He didn't know what had happened to her, but he swore he would never give up on Cassandra, and he wasn't about to fail her in her darkest hour.

To the Captain's chagrin, it was clear that not everyone shared his sentiments. Judging by the way people spoke of Cassandra, it seemed that nearly everyone in Corona had bought into Edmund's theory. It bothered him that they were talking about her as if she were a monster to be stopped. He was distressed by the situation and the manner in which they were speaking of his daughter, and when he scanned the room he noticed only one other who seemed to share his uneasiness.

"Cassandra  _ wasn't _ trying to kill us," Rapunzel defended, staring defiantly at everyone in the room. "If that's what she was trying to do, why would she let us go? Look, I know how it sounds, but believe me when I say that I  _ know _ Cass is still in there somewhere. I'm not giving up on her. I just need to get through to her somehow." 

Listening to the princess speak, the Captain felt a glimmer of hope. He was relieved to see he wasn't the only one who hadn't given up on his daughter. With the Princess on his side and actively vocalizing her defense of Cassandra, the Captain was somewhat comforted. 

However, that feeling of hope quickly dissipated as the conversation turned to a tangential issue; Varian.

Eugene was quick to remind everyone that Cassandra was still holding Varian hostage. Following their abrupt ejection from the tower, Eugene and Rapunzel had waited at the bottom for Varian to join them. At first they believed that they had gotten separated in all of the chaos, but it soon became evident that Varian never even made it out of the tower. Since they couldn't get back up the tower and confront Cassandra again, they decided to regroup at the castle and come up with a foolproof plan to rescue Varian. Quirin, who sat listening to the Princess’s story, grit his teeth as he listened to the details of his son’s kidnapping.

The Captain was unsettled by the fact Cassandra had kidnapped a child and continued to hold him hostage...even if that child was the same one who had kidnapped the Queen and held her hostage two years prior. But that was beside the point. Rapunzel looked equally unsettled, quieting her defense of Cassandra as they discussed what they should do to rescue the alchemist. The patrols had seen no activity from either Cassandra or Varian near the tower, so they were left with no indication of Cassandra’s plans for him. They were concerned and left to wonder what kind of horrors Cassandra could be subjecting him to.

* * *

Varian slammed his hands repeatedly against the edge of his desk, imitating the sound of a drum roll as he grinned excitedly at the work before him.

"Aaaaand, we have a winner!" Varian shouted in delight, throwing his hands up into the air. He had spent the past week experimenting with materials that he hypothesized would be compatible with the Sundrop's magic, and he  _ finally _ found one that met his extensive list of criteria. It was a fiber that he had isolated from dead plant matter and worked up into a tough, durable material through the power of science and alchemy. Sure, there were tons of different types of organic materials that were out there that Varian could have used, but he wanted one with the  _ perfect _ material properties for hosting the Sundrop's power. And this material had just checked all of the boxes: it was tough and durable, chemically resistant, had a low thermal conductivity, was not prone to thermal expansion, and was malleable enough to be shaped into a design of Varian's choosing. So far it looked incredibly promising, and Varian was excited to conduct more tests on the fiber. He continued to monologue about the science until a sharp voice cut in from behind him. 

"Hey kid, can you be nerdy somewhere else? I am  _ begging _ you to let me sleep here." Varian looked over his shoulder to see Cassandra sprawled out on the couch, pulling a pillow over her ears with a cranky expression. Varian wanted to laugh at the sight.  _ Some lab partner she was. _

"Excuse you,  _ Cassie _ , but this is my lab. I will be as 'nerdy' as I please," Varian said with a smirk. The two of them had spent most of the week splitting their time between Cassandra's tower and Varian's lab. Today they were camped out in his lab in Old Corona as he continued to characterize materials before selecting one for fabrication. Occasionally Zhan Tiri would join them as he worked on the project, but today the sorceress was away on some mysterious errand that neither he nor Cassandra were privy to. 

Cassandra groaned. "You're torturing me here, kid." Despite her words, Varian heard the teasing tone of her voice and saw the smallest crack of a joking smile. 

"Quit complaining," Varian teased. "We both know you're thrilled to be out of that tower." 

Cassandra stretched out as she adjusted her position on the couch. "Yeah, can't argue with that. That doesn't even compare to how good it feels knowing that she's out of my head."

The ease with which she spoke that sentence surprised Varian. It wasn't lost on him how much Cassandra had changed since he had last seen her, how she had grown far more comfortable with her own vulnerability. Two years ago Cass probably would have cut off her hand before confiding her more sensitive feelings in Varian, or anyone else for that matter. That Cass didn't do emotions; they were a weakness to her. In contrast, the Cass sitting before him had finally accepted that emotions were an integral part of her.

But right now, that emotion was  _ cranky _ . 

"So if you don't mind, I would love to take this opportunity to sleep," Cassandra grumbled, flopping back on the couch. 

"Yeah, yeah, alright, I'll keep it down," Varian promised with a grin. 

He turned back to his work. It was hard to believe that his encounter with Cassandra in the Demanitus chamber was only a week ago. He remembered the terror of waking up in her tower and finding he'd been kidnapped, and how that terror quickly subsided when he recognized the look of vulnerability and desperation in Cassandra's eyes. He was touched that out of all her friends, she chose to confide in him and ask him for his help. While Varian had some doubts at the beginning, he was glad that he ultimately decided to trust her. He was thrilled by the prospect of contributing to Cassandra's plan, and was even more excited that she trusted him with such a huge secret. For him, this was another shot at redemption. If he could work together with Cassandra and save the kingdom from Zhan Tiri, then it was another way to make up for what he had done. 

Plus, he got this amazing opportunity to push the limits of his knowledge and make some cool stuff. How could he pass  _ that _ up?

In the past week they had made considerable progress, not only on the Sundrop research, but also on possible ways to stop Zhan Tiri. Delving deeply into the Demanitus research in Varian’s possession, the two of them found some handwritten accounts about his plans to trap Zhan Tiri. The notes outlined a potential list of ways to accomplish the task, but it seemed that his only viable option at the time was to trap her in another dimension using a portal. While these notes provided no instructions on how to construct such a portal or exactly what kind of realm it led to, they did provide a lead on where to find such a set of instructions. Varian intended to go to the library in the castle at some point to see if they had that research in their possession. The more they learned about the portal and the prison it led to, the more Varian noticed that Cassandra seemed almost uncomfortable with the idea, but she never voiced her concern. 

Varian frowned as he thought about the dynamic between Cassandra and Zhan Tiri. It was strange, to say the least. For as dead set as she was on stopping Zhan Tiri, Varian couldn't help but notice that a quasi-friendship had formed between them. The two of them seemed comfortable in each other's presence and the conversation they shared was friendly, something Varian would have never expected from Cassandra. A week ago this would have baffled Varian, but now he found that he could understand; Zhan Tiri wasn't anything like he expected. The legends spoke about an evil demon bent on chaos and destruction, and Varian couldn't equate that image in his head with the lavender-haired woman that he had become acquainted with. The sorceress was  _ fascinating _ and brilliant and charismatic, and Varian found himself enjoying his conversations with her. He had never met anyone who knew so much about  _ everything _ ; it was the closest thing he would ever get to a conversation with his much idolized Demanitus. However, that meant on more than one occasion Varian needed to remind himself that this was  _ Zhan Tiri _ he was talking to, and that the sorceress had some seriously bad intentions, but it was easy to forget sometimes.

Varian's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a "hoot" from the window. He looked to the side to find Owl perched in the windowsill, staring Varian down as if he was trying to communicate something.

Varian frowned. "What is it, Owl? Is someone coming?" Owl hooted affirmatively. "Is it my dad?" Earlier that day, Varian had found himself idly wondering where his father was. Varian had been back and forth between the tower and his lab a few times now, and he hadn't come across his father a single time. Not that this was anything new; sometimes the two of them would get so absorbed in their work that they wouldn't come across each other for some considerable length of time. 

Owl shook his head and pointed at Cassandra. Varian turned and saw that Cassandra had finally managed to fall asleep, and he found himself smiling softly at the sight. He had never before seen Cass so at peace. She looked so much younger this way, with all of her usual hardness erased from her expression. It made Varian wonder when the last time she had slept was; she mentioned briefly that she technically didn't have to sleep anymore, but that fact made her treasure sleep more than ever.

"Hoot!" Owl cried out again, trying to get Varian's attention back. Varian wasn't sure what Owl was trying to communicate until he heard the sound of voices approaching the outside of his lab. He recognized them immediately as Rapunzel and Eugene's voices.

"Huh? What the-" Varian started to panic. What the hell were Rapunzel and Eugene doing here? He turned to look at Cassandra who was still unconscious on the couch. Not knowing what else to do, Varian grabbed a sheet from nearby and draped it over Cassandra. That would have to do for now. He quickly made his way to the front door, where it sounded like Eugene was messing around with the lock.

Varian pulled open the door to find Rapunzel and Eugene staring at him in surprise, Eugene holding a lockpick in his hand. "Hey guys, now isn't a good time-"

"Varian?" Eugene exclaimed in shock.

"Varian!" Rapunzel shouted in what sounded like relief, and tackled the young alchemist in a hug. Eugene walked inside and closed the door behind him.

"Um, ye-hello?" Varian greeted them tentatively. "Hi? Is there a reason you're acting like this?"

"I don't understand, how did you manage to escape from Cass?" Rapunzel asked.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" Varian stammered. 

Eugene looked at him in bewilderment. "Did you hit your head or something?" he asked, only half-kidding. "Cassandra knocked you out and kidnapped you. We thought you were still trapped in her tower- what are you doing here?  _ How _ did you get here?"

Oh, that was right; in all of the chaos of the past few days, he had forgotten that he had technically been kidnapped. It didn't occur to him until now that he should have explained that this was no longer the case.

"She let me go," Varian said sheepishly, his cheeks blushing in embarrassment. "I-uh...ya know, got distracted and kind of forgot to tell everyone."

Eugene stared at him like his head was going to explode. "What do you  _ mean _ you forgot to tell us that you weren't kidnapped anymore? Who forgets to tell people something of that magnitude?!"

Rapunzel crushed him tighter in a hug. "I'm just so glad you're safe." She then seemed to process what he said. "Wait, did you say that Cass let you go?"

"I-uh, yes! Yes she did." He then smiled the biggest, most innocent smile that he could muster. All they needed to know was that he was doing just fine. Did they need to know that he was working with Cassandra now? Nope. Did they need to know that Cassandra herself was blissfully asleep on the couch ten feet away from them, hidden underneath a flimsy sheet? They most certainly did not.

Speaking of, it blew his mind that the blue-haired woman was still sound asleep. For all of her complaining about Varian being too loud for her to fall asleep, she sure picked a swell time to sleep like the dead. He wouldn't let her hear the end of this, given he could squirm his way out from under the rock he now found himself under.

Eugene looked at him in suspicion, but Rapunzel smiled at this new development. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. 

"Wait, if you guys thought I was trapped in the tower, what are you doing here?" His eyes went to the lockpick in Eugene's hands. "Were you going to  _ break into _ my lab?"

Rapunzel looked at him sheepishly. "We didn't know how to get back inside the tower, so we came here to see if we could find anything in your lab that could help."

"Yeah, like that Flynnoleum stuff," Eugene added. Varian's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. 

"Are you insane? That  _ stuff _ would have taken down the whole tower and everyone in it!" Varian admonished. The looks on their faces told him that they hadn't considered that detail. Varian decided that it was time for them to leave. "Alright, you know what, it's great to see you both, but I'm  _ really _ busy, you have no idea how busy I am," Varian babbled as he started to push the two of them to the door. "So I will be getting back to work now and I will see you two at some other time that is  _ not now _ ."

"Hold on a minute, we just got here!" Eugene protested.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Varian had no idea who it could be, but he was relieved to have this conversation interrupted.

His relief immediately evaporated when he opened the door to reveal Zhan Tiri standing in the doorway, a sickly sweet smile on her face.

_ Oh come on. _

“Oh h-hey there  _ you _ ! Wasn’t expecting to see  _ you _ around today,” Varian stuttered nervously.  _ What in the world was she doing here? _ She said she was going to be gone all day tending to some mysterious errand. Why out of all moments did she decide to show up  _ now _ , with Rapunzel and Eugene in the room and Cassandra asleep and poorly concealed nearby? It almost was like she was doing this on purpose. 

Varian was on the verge of a panic attack now. His specialty was alchemy, not people. He was not equipped to deal with a social situation of this magnitude, but unfortunately it was up to him to keep this from becoming an explosive confrontation. This had all of the makings of a disaster. 

"Oh Varian, who's this?" Rapunzel asked, and Varian just wanted to melt into the floor. 

"A friend," Zhan Tiri replied in her bell-like voice with a devilish smile that looked playful to everyone else but absolutely sinister to Varian.

"I didn't know Varian had friends," Eugene said. Rapunzel elbowed him. "Oh c'mon, you know you were thinking it too."

"You know, Rapunzel and Eugene were just on their way out," Varian managed to choke out.

"Nonsense, they don't need to leave on my account," Zhan Tiri said sweetly. "I was just dropping by to see how your project was coming along."

"A project?" Rapunzel asked curiously. "Oh! Is that what you've been busy with Varian?"

"Y-Yes," he stammered. He watched in horror as Zhan Tiri engaged Rapunzel and Eugene in casual conversation, first speaking about Varian's work as an alchemist and transitioning to more mundane topics. It was downright  _ bizarre _ . Varian found himself with nothing to contribute to the conversation, just watching the way Zhan Tiri eyed Rapunzel, as if she was a wolf about to corner its prey.

As if this situation wasn't stressful enough, Varian stiffened when he noticed Cassandra start to stir underneath the blanket. He was immensely grateful that Rapunzel and Eugene had their backs turned to the couch as Cassandra pulled the sheet down from her face, yawning as she sat up with a sleepily confused expression. Making sure Eugene and Rapunzel weren't paying attention to him, he started gesturing to catch Cassandra's attention. Eventually she caught sight of his wild hand motions and mouthing the word "hide" and took a second to assess the situation in front of her. She looked absolutely  _ baffled _ by what she saw. Without missing a beat, she pulled the sheet back over her head. He turned to look at Zhan Tiri, who was also facing in the direction of the couch. He could see her trying to suppress a grin.

"Wait, if you're from Corona, how is it that I have never seen you before?" Rapunzel asked suddenly.

"That is because I am not from your kingdom," Zhan Tiri responded with a sly smile. "However, we have met before."

"Have we?" Rapunzel asked, looking uncertain. "I'm sorry, what did you say your name was again?"

"I didn't."

"Oh. Well, okay then," Rapunzel said awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to that. Varian decided that he had heard enough of this. It was time for them to leave.

"Alright, time to go, everyone out!" Varian interrupted, opening up the door and gesturing for them to leave. It took a little more shepherding, but eventually he was able to get Eugene and Rapunzel to leave. They hesitated when they noticed Zhan Tiri had remained behind to speak to Varian, but eventually they took off in the direction of Corona. 

Zhan Tiri turned to smirk at Varian, then looked in the direction of the couch. "Cassandra, my dear, you can stop hiding."

Cassandra ripped away the sheet from on top of her and stood up from the couch. "What the hell was  _ that _ ?"

Zhan Tiri laughed. "I'm not quite sure, but I enjoyed that little chat immensely." She explained that she was delayed in leaving for her "errand", so she decided to take the opportunity to drop by and check in on their progress. She mentioned that she would be gone for the next day or so. Varian was still reeling from that close call, but he managed to give a decent summary of the progress he had made in the Sundrop research in the past day. 

Once Zhan Tiri seemed satisfied and took her leave, Cassandra turned toward Varian with a bewildered look on her face. Clearly she was every bit as rattled as Varian was.

"What were Rapunzel and Eugene doing here?" Cassandra asked bluntly.

"Oh, funny story actually," Varian started with a forced laugh. "This entire time they thought you were holding me hostage in the tower, so they were breaking into my lab to find some stuff to help free me."

"Wait, what? They thought I was holding you hostage?" Cassandra asked, looking confused and more than a little insulted. Then she seemed to realize how it looked. "Oh. That's right, I technically kidnapped you."

"And it never occurred to me to tell them that I've been busy and am not in fact imprisoned in the tower," Varian finished. He could see the humor in the situation, but Cassandra looked bothered by it.

"Just so we're clear, you know you're not my prisoner, right?" Cassandra asked, uncertainty and anxiety coating her voice. "If you want to leave, you can leave whenever you want, Zhan Tiri be damned." Varian was surprised by the response; he thought he had made it clear that he was on board with this plan one hundred percent.

"And abandon Team Co-Ladies in Waiting?" Varian teased with a grin. Cassandra groaned at the name. "I don't think so."

"Oh, brother. We need a new team name," Cassandra grumbled, but Varian could see the relief in her expression.

"Hey, trust me. It's as degrading to me as it is to you," Varian said smiling. 

"New job, come up with a new team name," Cassandra said as she took a step away from the couch. "Consider it your homework."

"Wait, are you heading out somewhere?" Varian asked with a frown.

"No offense, but I need some time alone," Cassandra explained. "I'll be back tomorrow. I just don't know when I'll get another chance to leave without Zhan Tiri hovering over us. You should also take advantage and get some sleep."

Varian rolled his eyes. "Eh, we'll see. Enjoy your Zhan Tiri-free adventure."

"Thanks," Cassandra said, standing in the doorway with a frown. "But seriously Varian, get some sleep."

"Meh."

* * *

It was another beautiful evening in Corona, and Rapunzel marveled at the way the forest looked under the light of the full moon as she walked. She was thrilled to be outside of the walls of the castle, to finally have some time to herselfAfter the intensity of the past week, Rapunzel felt the need to get out and clear her head, alone. Eugene promised to cover for her in case anyone came looking for her. It was nice to finally have her wish for alone time respected and to have the freedom to venture out as she pleased. Since their journey out of the kingdom, the walls of the castle no longer felt like a prison. She was free to go anywhere she chose.

Tonight, she chose to visit a place that was special to her; the Lost Lagoon. She smiled as she spotted the twin oak trees, which marked the beginning of the secret path to the lagoon. It had been quite some time since Rapunzel had last visited. She came back on a few occasions since returning from their travels, but it had been more than a couple of months since her last visit. She treasured her visits to the lagoon; it was one of the most incredible and beautiful places she had ever seen, and it was the only place where she could be truly alone with her thoughts. After all, she was only one of two people that even knew that this place existed.

Rapunzel's heart sank as she thought about the other person who knew of the lagoon's existence; Cassandra. The Lost Lagoon was their special place, a secret that they shared. Every time she came to visit, she couldn't help but think of Cassandra.

This week had given her a lot to think about in regards to her former best friend. The handful of run-ins with Cassandra left her with a feeling of whiplash, and Rapunzel wasn't sure what to make of any of it. At first she was hopeful when she first saw that Cass had returned, but that hope faded when Cassandra made it clear that she was only interested in the Demanitus Scroll and nothing more. That continued to escalate with Cassandra knocking all of them out with her sleeping gas in the Demanitus Chamber, and then taking the opportunity to kidnap Varian along with the scroll. Then there was the encounter in her newly constructed tower, where she pushed for violence against Rapunzel and Eugene before rapidly backtracking and ejecting them from her tower.

The question that continued to haunt Rapunzel was  _ why _ ? 

Why was Cassandra doing all of this?

Rapunzel couldn't even begin to understand. After the events in the Dark Kingdom, Rapunzel didn't know how to cope with her feelings of hurt and betrayal. Since Cassandra was gone and there was no way for Rapunzel to try to actively fix the situation, she found it easiest to avoid thinking about Cassandra entirely, and to erase all evidence of Cass from her life because any reminder of their broken friendship was just too  _ painful _ . However, in the moments where she couldn't outrun her thoughts, she found herself dwelling on Cassandra's actions, trying hard to look past the pain and betrayal to see if she could somehow make sense of it. If she could figure out what had gone wrong, then maybe she could fix it. All she knew was that Cassandra felt slighted, and she just wished that Cass had talked to her about her feelings before running off with the Moonstone. Maybe then the two of them would have been able to figure out a solution, which would have spared both of them a lot of pain.

However, after this past week, Rapunzel was starting to realize that maybe Cassandra's lack of communication wasn't to blame for all of this. Her stomach twisted as she thought about Cassandra's arm, how the decay had extended past her elbow, and the accusatory look in Cassandra's eyes as she presented her arm for them all to see.

Cassandra's words echoed in her mind:

_ "No Rapunzel, you're not sorry. You wouldn't do it after all this time if you were. You never even actually apologized, you just blamed me for trying to rescue you from the consequences of _ your  _ reckless decision. If you had just given me the chance to try and actually listen and trust me for once-" _

_ "Notice anything different about it?" _

_ "You remember correctly. I was dying. I'm not anymore." _

Rapunzel had stood firmly by her decision to use the decay incantation in the Great Tree, but now she was forced to stop and consider the consequences of her action. She knew that Cassandra had been injured when she pulled Rapunzel out of her trance, but she didn't realize that the injury was a death sentence. How had she not noticed how bad Cassandra's injury really was? Was it possible that she had nearly killed her best friend? For the first time, she had to stop and consider the possibility that maybe she did act recklessly, and that maybe she really didn’t give Cassandra a chance. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, and Rapunzel was reminded of the nightly patrols that moved through this area. Before the guards could notice her, she quickly moved down the path past the twin oaks and scaled the boulder. She climbed down and continued along the path to the lagoon, marveling at its beauty underneath the night sky. Her breath hitched as the lagoon came into sight, just as beautiful as the first time she had ever laid eyes on it. As she approached the shore, she took a look around and admired the view. After a moment, she noticed that there was a figure already perched at the edge of the lagoon and Rapunzel froze. There was only one other person that knew this place even existed.

Quietly and cautiously, Rapunzel moved towards the shore of the lagoon to get a closer look, and her suspicion was confirmed when she saw the brilliant blue hair of her former lady-in-waiting. Cassandra was sitting down as she hugged her knees to her chest, staring out into the lagoon with a contemplative look on her face. It was clear she hadn't noticed Rapunzel enter. Rapunzel stood there frozen for a moment, just staring at her. Cass looked so at peace.

Rapunzel hesitated. Her instinct was to call out to her, but she didn't know what to expect. She was afraid Cassandra would turn violent or try to run off again, but Rapunzel decided to take her chance anyway.

"Cassandra?" Rapunzel called out tentatively.

Cassandra froze in place at the sound of her voice. She didn't look enraged or infuriated by the sight of the princess; she looked panicked.

"What are  _ you _ doing here?" Cass demanded, tensing in her position on the ground.

"I could ask you the same question," Rapunzel responded lightly. 

"I'm not doing this," Cassandra said with a glare as she stood up from the ground. "I came here to be alone."

That statement confused Rapunzel. Wasn't Cassandra alone up in her tower? Before she could think of a response, she noticed that Cassandra was starting to leave. "Cass, wait, there's-"

"Don't follow me," she snapped and turned to leave the lagoon. 

"...guards out in the woods," Rapunzel finished with a sigh. She ignored Cassandra's request and followed her down the path. She moved  _ fast. _

"Seriously, Cassandra, you can't leave," Rapunzel tried to warn her again as she watched her start to scale the boulder at the edge of the path. "There's-"

Cassandra must have seen the guards for herself, because she immediately dropped back down and leveled Rapunzel with a glare. 

“Why are there guards all the way out here?” Cassandra whispered harshly.

“As I was trying to tell you, there's nightly patrols out in the woods," Rapunzel explained.

"Since when?" Cass demanded, eyes narrowing. 

"Since you showed up in Corona," Rapunzel said with an awkward smile, and she watched an unreadable expression cross Cassandra's face. "And there's no way around them, so if we want to avoid causing a scene and make sure no one notices us, or the lagoon for that matter, that means we're stuck here until the morning when they leave."

“Ugh. Great.” Cassandra stormed back towards the lagoon, clearly frustrated with the situation. Rapunzel couldn't say she shared the sentiment; she saw this as a positive. The two of them were stuck here for the time being if they wanted to avoid notice by the guards, which meant that she would  _ finally _ have a chance to talk with Cassandra, who seemed to be fairly level-headed at the moment. Rapunzel could sense that the ice they stood upon was thin, but it was better than drowning.

Rapunzel followed Cassandra back into the lagoon and watched as she returned to her spot on the shore, looking anywhere but at Rapunzel. 

“Cass, can we talk?” Rapunzel asked, sitting on the ground a few feet away from her. 

“No.”

Rapunzel went to respond, but hesitated. She realized that they had nothing but time and decided that she would wait for Cassandra to talk first. The two of them sat in silence for a while until Cassandra side-eyed her curiously.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Cassandra demanded. Rapunzel blinked in surprise. 

"You said you didn't want to talk."

"Yeah, but since when do you ever listen?" Cassandra asked seriously and Rapunzel sighed.

"Maybe it's true that I could have been better about listening to you in the past, but the point is I'm listening now. Just...talk to me, Cassandra," Rapunzel pleaded. 

Rapunzel's overture was met with deafening silence. Clearly she was going to have to be the one to start the conversation.

"You know, for the first couple of months you were gone, we didn't know if you were dead or alive," Rapunzel admitted. The way Cassandra flinched told Rapunzel that this was news to her. "Adira and Edmund seemed certain that no one could possess the Moonstone, that eventually it would kill anyone who wielded it. I didn't believe it, but I hated not knowing. When the red rocks came, everyone was so afraid, but I was  _ relieved _ because it meant you were still alive. You were living in fear, but you were alive." Rapunzel looked to her old friend for a response, but Cassandra’s expression remained stone cold.

"Please Cass, just say  _ something _ ," Rapunzel begged.

"What do you want me to say?" Cassandra snapped, finally turning to look at Rapunzel.

"Why are you doing all of this?" Rapunzel blurted out, the question on her mind on bursting from her. "Why did you take the Moonstone? It's just, I don't understand what happened between us. We were  _ best friends. _ "

“If we were best friends, then why did you stop treating me like one?” Cassandra asked seriously. Rapunzel was taken aback by the sudden vulnerability in her voice. 

"What do you mean?" Rapunzel asked. Cassandra laughed once bitterly.

"Did you seriously not notice the way you treated me on the caravan?" Cassandra questioned. "Fine. If you want me to talk so badly, then let me spell it out for you. But I'm only going to say this once."

To Rapunzel's shock, Cassandra actually started to talk about her feelings; that was a new development. She spoke about what the events of the caravan felt like from her perspective, sparing no detail. She shared how she felt that no one was listening to her, and how all of her concerns that she shared about the group's safety regularly fell on deaf ears. She felt that somewhere along the way, everyone had stopped trusting her judgement, her capabilities as a warrior and protector, and her abilities as a friend. Her sole purpose for being on the trip was to keep everyone safe, and she felt that her purpose was continually being ripped out from under her. What hurt most of all was how she was cast aside and treated as nothing more than an obedient lady-in-waiting; she felt as if she couldn't disagree with Rapunzel without being shut down, and that her presence was only valued was when she was willingly going along with the rest of the group. 

"And I know that you can handle yourself, but sometimes the decisions you make are  _ reckless _ and they have serious consequences that you're not always aware of. You've been lucky, but I haven't," Cassandra finished, lightly touching her left hand to her injured arm. "But my point is, somewhere along the way you stopped listening to me and taking me seriously, even when I was the only one concerned about the danger we were in. So, I was frustrated. I still am, really."

And then Cassandra was done speaking. She looked out over the lagoon, refusing to meet Rapunzel's eyes as she processed Cassandra's tale. 

"I had no idea you felt that way," Rapunzel whispered after a moment of silence. She bridged the gap between them by reaching out and grabbing Cassandra's hand. "Cass...I am so sorry. I never meant to make you feel like you were being ignored or cast aside. You are my best friend, and I could've been better about giving you a chance."

At her words, Cassandra turned to look at Rapunzel in surprise. She stared at Rapunzel for a moment as she processed her words, and Rapunzel watched as Cassandra's face softened. "Thanks, Raps. And I guess I could've been better about sharing my feelings. I've never been great with touchy-feely stuff."

"Sounds like we really have to work on our communication skills, huh?" Rapunzel joked with a smile, and she was thrilled when Cassandra cracked a smile in return.

"Yeah, sounds like we do," Cassandra replied. For a moment, Rapunzel felt like the rift between them had dissipated entirely. The silence between them grew more comfortable, and it was as if the past two years had never happened. But the thing was, they did happen, and it wasn't going to help either of them if they ignored the elephant in the room. Rapunzel had so many more questions that were weighing on her.

"So is that why you took the Moonstone?" Rapunzel questioned, and she watched Cassandra's expression fall. "Because you felt like you were cast aside?"

"I wasn't going to take it," Cassandra admitted. "Despite you and Fitzherbert believing I was going to betray you the whole time, I wasn't going to do it. Not originally, anyway."

"Then why did you?" Rapunzel pressed.

Cassandra looked reluctant to answer. "Because it was going to kill you."

"We don't know that it would've," Rapunzel responded. With those words Cassandra turned to look at her seriously. 

"Yes, it would have," Cassandra said with certainty. "If the Sundrop and Moonstone ever reunite, that power will kill  _ anyone _ who wields it."

"How could you possibly know that?" Rapunzel questioned. "Even Edmund and Adira had no idea what would happen if I took the Moonstone."

"It doesn't matter how I know that," Cassandra snapped, and Rapunzel sensed that the rift between them had cracked open again. "Hell, I shouldn't even be here. I shouldn't be talking with you."

"What are you talking about?" Rapunzel demanded as Cassandra started to stand up to leave. "Cass, you can't leave! There are guards outside, remember?"

Cassandra's stare was frosty. "I'll find my way past them." And with that, Cassandra ran off down the path with surprising speed.

"Cassandra, wait!" Rapunzel called out as she ran after her, but she was too late. Cassandra had already managed to slip away into the night.

_ What just happened? _

* * *

The Demanitus Chamber was dark and eerily silent, a pathetic echo of its former glory. Zhan Tiri had decided to come here to gloat; it was the best way she could think of to pay her respects to her dearly departed friend. As she descended down the staircase to the chamber, she was pleased to see Demanitus's once magnificent device reduced to rubble and amber. It was fitting, really, that his chamber was laid in ruins when his precious kingdom would soon follow.

After descending the staircase and walking to the edge of the cavernous pit, Zhan Tiri looked down and saw broken bits of the Demanitus Device scattered about the ground. She picked up a gear and grinned at the sight of it in her hand.

"My dear Demanitus, I wanted you to know  _ you’ve lost _ ," Zhan Tiri said, casting the piece into the pitch-black hole. She paused for a moment as if Demanitus would respond, but she remembered he never would. He was no longer here, as he had given up their quest for immortality long ago.  _ But she was still here _ . And Zhan Tiri intended to be around for as long as time itself.

“You were a fool for turning your back on me. The Sundrop and the Moonstone could have been ours, but you threw it all away. And for what? Because you doubted my intentions? I thought you knew me better than that, my dear, but evidently not.”

Zhan Tiri looked back out over the cavern, dwelling on her feelings of hurt and betrayal. Demanitus was the first person she met who had rivaled her drive, and she had admired him for his brilliance and talent. He was the only person she ever saw as an equal and the first person she had ever cared deeply for, which made it all the more painful when he turned his back on her. Zhan Tiri had never lied about her intentions to him. While she wasn't the most...forthcoming with information, Zhan Tiri was no liar. She never pretended to be something she wasn't, not with Demanitus, at least. She thought Demanitus had truly known her, but clearly, he did not. That was his mistake, and he would pay dearly for it.

He had made her feel weak, and that was unforgivable. In return, she had promised to lay waste to his beloved Corona, and Zhan Tiri was never one to go back on her word. 

"With the eclipse approaching, Corona's days are numbered. I intend to draw the power of the Sundrop to myself and use it to turn Corona to ash. How I wish you were still here so that you could watch your precious kingdom burn to the ground. Nonetheless, I will bear witness in your stead," Zhan Tiri said smirking, turning her back to the Demanitus Device.

"Of course, the future is not set in stone, but I like my odds," Zhan Tiri continued. "My new pupil, Cassandra, has proven useful in setting my plan into motion. My original intention for her was to keep the Moonstone close until I was released from my prison, but I have to admit that I have grown rather fond of her. We are the same, but she has yet to accept that fact. As much as she tries to conceal it, I know she is conflicted in her loyalty. Unfortunately she is tied to her kingdom, especially to that princess of hers. But that will not be an issue for much longer. You see, I intend to cut those ties that hold her back. Only then will she realize her full potential, much like I did. I'm sure that given the right push, Cassandra will turn her back on Corona of her own volition. I might not even need to lift a finger; the fools in her kingdom are doing an excellent job of it themselves."

Zhan Tiri smirked as she thought of the way the people of Corona were speaking of Cassandra. She could see the way their comments and actions affected the young woman, and noticed how she was growing increasingly unsettled by them with each passing day. Really, they were making Zhan Tiri’s job too easy. 

"Regardless, when the eclipse comes, Cassandra will help me lay waste to this wretched kingdom," Zhan Tiri said with confidence. "However, it is up to her if she does so willingly or not."

The sorceress started walking back up the staircase, reaching into her bag as she went. After a moment she found the object that she was looking for, pulling it out with a devilish smirk. The Mindtrap was truly a beautiful object, and Zhan Tiri found herself admiring its elegant blue color and the magic that pulsed within it. 

The Mindtrap was a magical device created by the Brotherhood in the early days of the organization. As the device was powered by the Moonstone's magic, a tie that intimately connected the two objects, the Mindtrap could be used to control the mind and actions of whoever possessed the Moonstone. It was originally created as a failsafe should the opal ever fall into the wrong hands; the members of the Brotherhood had always been wary of the Moonstone's destructive power and feared the consequences of someone taking that power for themself. Throughout the years, the Mindtrap was somehow displaced and ended up in the possession of the Spire, and now its power rested solely in Zhan Tiri's hands.

Zhan Tiri was many things, but she was no fool. She always had a contingency plan, and after Demanitus, she trusted no one. The stone that she held in her hand was her insurance in the event Cassandra turned against her. While she hoped she wouldn't have to use it, she would rather be safe than sorry.

Before taking her leave, Zhan Tiri cast one last look out over the chamber with a sly smile. "But like I said, I am certain that Cassandra will come around. She will succeed where you have failed, and I will live on to carry my legacy while time crumbles yours to dust."

With those parting words, Zhan Tiri extended her arms out and channeled her power. She watched in satisfaction as the walls of the chamber crumbled before her, collapsing in on its center. The sight of its complete destruction was cathartic. 

"Farewell, my dear Demanitus."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	14. Second Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, sorry for the late update! it's been a chaotic two weeks. so this chapter was originally much longer, but i ended up splitting it in half (i'm also splitting one of my future chapters in half, so now there's going to be 19 chapters instead of 17 because i am a bad judge of how long chapters end up being lol).
> 
> anyways, thank you again for all of the comments and kudos! they really make my day, and i can't wait to hear what you guys think :) enjoy!

Cassandra stared at the small, scrawny tree twenty feet in front of her. Narrowing her eyes in focus, she steadied herself with a deep breath and focused on the power of the Moonstone that thrummed within her. Blue lightning crackled from the opal in her chest, and in one smooth motion she extended her arm in front of her and attempted to direct the discharge. At her command the bolts of brilliant blue light shot out from her hand, falling short of their target by a significant margin. _Again_.

Cassandra had been working at this for _hours_ , trying to hone in on her abilities beyond control of the black rocks. Zhan Tiri had taken it upon herself to teach Cassandra about the magic she possessed. While Zhan Tiri was doing it under the guise of “helping” Cass access her “full potential”, she suspected these lessons were a way for Zhan Tiri to answer her own questions about the capabilities of the Moonstone. Some days the lessons went well, but clearly today was not one of those days.

Groaning in frustration, Cassandra let her arm fall. She stared daggers at the tree, as if it were somehow responsible for the failed attempt. "This is useless." 

Zhan Tiri walked up behind her and placed her hands on Cassandra’s shoulders. 

"Focus, Cassandra," Zhan Tiri reminded, and Cassandra suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "You are allowing doubt and frustration to block your control. Focus on the source of your power, and allow that magic to flow through you and out. The Moonstone’s magic follows your command, but only if you clear a path for it to follow. Try again."

"Fine." Zhan Tiri backed away, and Cassandra extended her arm in front of her once again. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of the stupid tree she was aiming for. 

With a deep breath she closed her eyes and followed Zhan Tiri's advice, casting aside her frustration in favor of focusing on the magic that existed within her. She tried to visualize the sparks of power moving through her body, and in a decisive motion she opened her eyes and sent crackling bolts of lightning out from her hand. This time the lightning hit the target, fracturing the tree and sending branches flying in all directions. Cassandra looked at the tree with a satisfied smirk, thrilled that it had _finally_ worked.

"Excellent job," Zhan Tiri beamed. "How do you feel?"

_Powerful_. 

The thought surprised her. While Cassandra was skeptical about these magic lessons at first, she now found herself actually enjoying them. She enjoyed the opportunity to push her limits and see just how much she was capable of with the opal in her possession, and Cassandra would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy that feeling of power and control. 

"I didn't realize that there was so much to the Moonstone," was the response Cassandra settled on. Zhan Tiri insisted that there was more to both the Moonstone and the Sundrop than just black rocks and healing powers, and Cassandra was surprised to find that was true. Zhan Tiri smirked, seeming satisfied with her answer.

"And you, my dear, are only _beginning_ to learn what you are capable of with the power of the Moonstone," Zhan Tiri began, the smirk never falling from her face. "Even _I_ don't know the full extent of its capabilities as a magic source, but that is what makes it so exciting. There is so much for us to learn. You see, all power sources I have encountered have come from the Earth, so I am interested to see how celestial power sources differ. I suspect things will become more clear once I have taken possession of the Sundrop."

Cassandra frowned as she listened to Zhan Tiri's musings, questions she never considered before taking root in her mind. "So all magic comes from a power source, right? Then what's yours?" 

Zhan Tiri looked surprised by the question, which meant that Cassandra had asked the right one. "Nevermind that; we were talking about the Moonstone.” Before Cassandra could bite out a snarky response to Zhan Tiri dodging the question, the sorceress continued to speak. “Speaking of the Moonstone, I have noticed that there is one power that you have left untouched. You are aware that you can use the decay incantation, right?"

Cassandra stiffened at the mention of the decay incantation, her question about the power source entirely forgotten. 

"Yeah, I figured I might be able to, but I'm not using it. End of story." The decay incantation was a topic Cassandra tended to avoid dwelling on for obvious reasons. The thought that she might be capable of using it had occurred to her at some point, but it was too unsettling to give it any serious thought.

Zhan Tiri smiled at her as if she were some naive child. "You're afraid of it, aren't you?" 

_Yes_. 

"But there is no reason to be afraid. Unlike Rapunzel, who was merely borrowing a part of the Moonstone's power, you are the Moonstone's vessel. You alone have complete control over the decay spell; its power is yours to command."

Cassandra shuddered at the thought of using the decay incantation. While the lack of control bothered her, she found the actual power of the spell to be far more unsettling. She would never forget the feeling of life draining from her as Rapunzel recited the words to the incantation, the sense of _wrongness_ that permeated the space. And of course, how could she ever forget what the spell did to her arm?

Cassandra didn't want to dwell on it anymore. It was time to change the topic. "We should go. Varian is expecting us soon."

"Very well," Zhan Tiri shrugged. Cassandra rolled her eyes as she went to collect her bag. 

Once Cassandra was ready and disguised in the cloak, they departed for Old Corona. They walked in comfortable silence down the forest path, and Cassandra found that she could not shake her uneasiness. Zhan Tiri’s words about the decay incantation were stuck in her mind. While it had occurred to her there was a possibility that she could use the incantation, she had never considered the fact that she might be able to control it. Not that it mattered, of course; she was still against its use, regardless of her ability to maintain control. 

Although, Zhan Tiri’s explanation of why Rapunzel was unable to control the incantation did make sense.The power of the Moonstone was never hers to use, its protection only loaned to her until she could make her way to the Dark Kingdom.

Or more precisely, until her connection to the opal was severed through the use of the fourth incantation.

Cassandra nearly stopped in her tracks as she realized; _Rapunzel’s connection to the Moonstone was gone_ . That meant Rapunzel had lost the protective magic that she had come to depend on the past couple of years, a consequence that Rapunzel was oblivious to. This fact left Cassandra uneasy, considering the eclipse was only five days away. If Varian and Cassandra couldn't stop Zhan Tiri _before_ the eclipse, then it was likely there would be some type of confrontation with Rapunzel. Cassandra suspected that if put in that situation, Rapunzel would do something reckless under the belief that her hair would still shield her, and that made Cassandra nervous. She should have warned Rapunzel when they crossed paths a couple weeks ago, but the thought hadn't crossed her mind at the time.

Her mind drifted back to the... _surprise meeting_ with Rapunzel at the Lost Lagoon. When Cassandra went to the lagoon, she went with the intention of being alone with her thoughts.It was nice, having some quiet time to herself without Varian's excited ramblings or Zhan Tiri hovering over her shoulder. She could let herself think without distraction, and just _be_. That was, until Rapunzel had stumbled in unexpectedly.

Seeing Rapunzel was a jarring experience. At first Cassandra had been cautious about speaking with Rapunzel, given the current situation. Cassandra knew the wire she was walking on was thin, and it was best to keep Rapunzel as uninvolved as possible to avoid complicating the situation further. Not to mention, Cassandra was still harboring some level of frustration with Rapunzel.

But something had changed. To Cassandra's immense surprise, Rapunzel seemed to actually listen to what she had to say, which was a new development. It was clear that the Rapunzel she had spoken to wasn’t the Rapunzel she remembered from the end of the journey, the one who would confidently make decisions while actively refusing to listen to anyone else, not caring about the danger they were in nor the feelings of anyone involved. No, that was the Rapunzel that she knew from before their journey; the person who cared deeply about the world and unflinchingly chose to see the good in it, even when others thought there was no good to be found. The person who never passed judgement, even when the rest of the world did. 

Throughout the course of the encounter Cassandra could feel herself let her walls down. Rapunzel had admitted some fault and apologized, and that was all Cassandra could have asked for. Seeing Rapunzel try to fix things on her end, Cassandra hoped that the two of them might actually be able to repair their friendship after all was said and done. Maybe Rapunzel would listen to her after all, and decide to put her trust back in Cassandra. That was all Cassandra ever wanted; to be heard and respected, especially by those she cared about most.

As much as she wanted to rebuild her relationship with Rapunzel, Cassandra knew that she couldn’t; not yet, anyway. Zhan Tiri continued to be a threat, and while Rapunzel seemed to have matured and grown in the past year, she still did not seem to have a healthy sense of self-preservation. Cassandra didn’t want to risk Rapunzel’s safety if she didn’t have to, which meant she needed to keep Rapunzel away from Zhan Tiri, and by extension, herself. She couldn't be too friendly and tell Rapunzel what was going on, not when the situation was already so delicate.

Regardless, Cassandra should have warned Rapunzel about the loss of her protective magic. She would have, if she had remembered at the time. Maybe she could still warn Rapunzel before the eclipse. Cassandra considered the possibility of reaching out to Rapunzel, or at the very least, somehow finding a way to warn the princess to keep her guard up the next few days. 

Cassandra's thoughts were interrupted when she noticed Zhan Tiri had stopped walking. She paused in front of a tree, staring at it with an amused smile.

"This is new," Zhan Tiri remarked. Cassandra walked beside her to see what she was looking at and stiffened at the sight of a wanted poster with her face on it. "They must have posted it here within the past couple of days. I do have to admit, the artist did a wonderful job."

"Yeah, wonderful," Cass responded dryly.

When Cassandra further inspected the poster, her first reaction was surprise. She realized that she hadn't seen one of the wanted posters yet, only just heard about them from Varian. It was jarring seeing a picture of her face with the word _traitor_ written underneath in bold letters.

Her second thought was that Fitzherbert would probably be jealous. The sketch of her was remarkably spot on, with no creative liberties taken with her nose. 

Her third and final thought was the sinking realization that her kingdom, her home, really thought of her as a criminal and a traitor. While she knew how it looked from the outside, it still stung that the kingdom turned on her so readily, far before her return to Corona. Before she could dwell on that painful feeling any longer, she reminded herself that it didn't matter. The kingdom would know soon enough that she wasn't a traitor. At the end of it all, she would prove herself to them, and she would finally get the recognition she deserved.

Cassandra ripped the wanted poster from the tree, crumbling it up before turning back in the direction of Old Corona. She pulled the cloak tighter to her body, as if the action would provide her with a sense of security. 

It was not long before the two of them arrived at Varian's lab. Cassandra barely had an opportunity to knock before the door swung open, revealing the overeager teenage alchemist on the other side of it.

"Good, you guys are here! Perfect timing. Cassandra, I need to borrow you for a minute," Varian said, scrambling back inside towards his work station. Ruddiger followed suit, chittering excitedly.

Cassandra raised an eyebrow as she removed her cloak. "For what?"

"For this!" Varian said triumphantly, holding some sort of object in his hand. Cassandra stared blankly back at him. "Oh, come on, just come over here."

Cassandra and Zhan Tiri made their way over to Varian's workstation. He held out the object for them to admire, and Cassandra could see now what it was. It was the synthetic stone that Varian had fabricated for the Sundrop. Cassandra had to admit that Varian had really outdone himself; despite being created from the plant fiber that Varian had isolated, it looked remarkably like a stone.

"You've finished it?" Zhan Tiri asked, sounding impressed.

"Yes!" Varian said. "Well, I think so, anyway. I've been thinking about ways to test the stone's compatibility with the Sundrop's magic, and I think I have an idea. Cassandra, take this." Varian extended his hand out for Cassandra to take the stone. She raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

"Wait, what? Why?" she questioned.

"Like I just said; to test the compatibility," Varian repeated irritably. He sighed. "The Sundrop and Moonstone are opposites, right? Just try using your magic to see if you can infuse any of it in the stone. If it doesn't take to your magic, then that's our confirmation that it’s compatible with the Sundrop's magic."

It sounded as reasonable an explanation as any. Cassandra accepted the pale yellow stone into her hand, noticing its smooth exterior and surprising lightness. Per Varian's directions, she focused on the energy of the Moonstone within her. Just as she practiced earlier, she attempted to direct the energy into the stone. She was surprised by the resistance she felt from the stone. Cassandra repeated the process, and with each attempt she found she could not elicit a response; it was completely inert. The stone almost felt like a blindspot, unable to connect with Cassandra's magic in any sense.

Varian counted the lack of reactivity as a win. " _Awesome_ ! So then if my hypothesis is correct, and let's be honest, it most definitely is, this stone should be completely capable of acting as the host for the Sundrop. _Boom_. You're welcome."

"I have to admit, I am impressed," Zhan Tiri said with a pleasant smile. "And just in time, as well, considering we are only a few days out from the eclipse."

Varian's face sobered up at the reminder. "Oh yeah, wow, that came up fast. Well, uh, the project is done. What comes next?"

"We _use_ the stone, of course," Zhan Tiri said with an amused smile.

"Well yeah, I figured that," Varian snorted. "But how? In order to extract the Sundrop, you'd need to get close to Rapunzel, and I don't know how simple that’s going to be this time."

"Believe me, that will not be an issue,” Zhan Tiri said with an air of unshakable confidence. It was clear she had put some thought into this. “This time we will go to her. It shouldn’t be hard, getting onto the grounds of the castle. Corona is not exactly the pillar of strength it believes itself to be."

"Eh, can't argue with you there," Varian snorted. 

"Yeah. There's a reason Varian was able to single-handedly bring down the entire kingdom once," Cassandra said dryly.

"Twice," Varian corrected.

"Excuse me?" Cassandra asked, caught off guard by his response.

Varian looked sheepish. "I single-handedly brought down the entire kingdom _twice_." When Cassandra stared at him, he began to elaborate. "While you guys were gone, I may or may not have helped the Saporians take over the kingdom."

Zhan Tiri began to laugh, clearly delighted. "How unfortunate that the change didn’t stick."

"How the hell did you get involved with the Saporians?" Cassandra asked, flabbergasted. 

"Long story short, my cellmate asked for my help," Varian responded. His eyes lit up as he remembered something. "Actually, you know him! Andrew. He said he was your boyfriend or something?"

_Ugh, of course_.

"Andrew was _not_ my boyfriend," Cass snapped. The idea was repulsive to her. "I used him to figure out what he wanted with that stupid Herz de Sonne journal, and that was it."

"Whoa okay, _not_ your boyfriend, got it," Varian said, noting Cassandra's ire. "And I see that we have gotten off topic."

"That is no matter,” Zhan Tiri said with a grin. She continued conversing with Varian about the stone, asking questions about the material and the assumptions that went into its creation. They spoke at length about the stone and the magic of the Sundrop.

Once Zhan Tiri was satisfied with the conversation, she decided to return to the tower while Cassandra chose to remain behind with Varian. After Zhan Tiri had left and Cassandra was certain she was far out of earshot, Cassandra turned toward Varian.

"Any progress on the portal?" Cassandra asked. It had been a few days since she had last seen the alchemist, and the way Varian's eyes lit up told her that there had in fact been some progress.

"Yes, actually! After some searching through some old journals that were kept in the castle library, I was able to find out where Demanitus kept the blueprints to his machine. Apparently he took the plans to his tomb. The thing is that no one knows where the tomb is located, but I talked to Rapunzel about it and she knows its location. She said she can bring me there, so I’m actually meeting Rapunzel and Eugene soon to go and collect the book. They don't know why I'm after it, of course. I just told them I'm looking into Demanitus's inventions in general, and they didn’t press."

"And you’re sure it’s there?” Cassandra asked anxiously.

Varian nodded once. “I’m positive.”

“That’s great,” Cassandra said, but the assurance did very little to ease her anxiety. “It’s just, I don’t like how close we’re cutting it to the eclipse. Do you think that you’ll be able to build it in time?" 

Varian seriously considered the question for a moment. "Well I want to say yes, but in all honesty it depends on what I find. It could be simple and take a matter of hours or, because this is Demanitus, it could also be _really_ complicated.”

“But what happens if we can’t finish it in time? We can’t risk Zhan Tiri getting her hands on the Sundrop. We need some kind of backup plan.”

"We've been over this, we haven't been able to come up with another way to stop her,” Varian responded, frowning. “Even Demanitus thought that the only way to stop Zhan Tiri was to imprison her in another realm."

"That can't be our only option, there has to be something else," Cassandra said, frustrated. She pushed against the walls of her mind just trying to think of something else she could do to stop Zhan Tiri, _anything_ else. Suddenly her mind drifted back to her magic lessons, and an idea occurred to her. "We're just trying to stop her from destroying the kingdom, right? What if we could strip her of her power somehow?"

Varian briefly considered the question. "Interesting idea, but I don't know how we would even go about doing that. I don't know enough about how magic works, at least not her type of magic. And Demanitus couldn't find a way either."

"Ugh, there has to be _something_ ," Cassandra groaned. "I don't like the idea of waiting until the eclipse. There's too much that can go wrong. Rapunzel has no idea what's coming, and if things go wrong she doesn't have her protective magic anymore. And she doesn't even know that! I should have warned her when I had the chance, but it didn’t even cross my mind. I should try to warn her."

"You want to talk to Rapunzel again?" Varian asked, surprised. "I don't know if you waltzing into Corona is the best idea right now.”

“I don’t feel right about letting her walk into this blindly,” Cassandra countered.

“Cassandra, don’t worry about it. We’ll figure something out,” Varian said in an attempt to comfort her. “I'll see Rapunzel today, and I can warn her about the whole hair thing. I’ll get the plans to build the portal and we’ll get this all figured out _before_ the eclipse."

Cassandra relaxed a little bit. "Thanks, Varian."

Soon enough it was time for Varian to leave to meet with Rapunzel and Eugene. The two of them left his lab, splitting in opposite directions as Cassandra headed in the direction of the tower.

When she returned, she was surprised to find Zhan Tiri sound asleep on the bench. It was a strange sight, to say the least. Cassandra couldn't help but smile and roll her eyes.

_So much for all of her talk on the road about how sleep was for the weak._

With no other pressing concerns at the moment, Cassandra sat down opposite of Zhan Tiri, just watching. In that moment Cassandra found herself thinking about how her interactions with the sorceress had changed over the past year.

It was funny, really, how much Cassandra’s perception of Zhan Tiri had shifted since their first meeting. Back then Cassandra believed, like the rest of the world, that Zhan Tiri was an ancient, evil demon from another realm who wanted nothing but destruction. She was nothing more than a threat to be neutralized, and Cassandra had no hesitations about doing whatever it took to stop her.

However, Cassandra realized over time that her original impression of Zhan Tiri was nothing more than a caricature. The sorceress possessed far more depth than Cassandra expected. She remembered the first time she witnessed a crack in Zhan Tiri's calm and assured demeanor, back in the Great Tree. Zhan Tiri had looked so heartbroken at the sight of her former home in ruins. 

As she thought back on the memory, she was reminded of the seed she picked up from the Great Tree. She had forgotten about it until now. She pulled the seed out of the pocket of her armor, examining it as she continued to think about Zhan Tiri.

Despite finding the Great Tree creepy and unsettling, Cassandra couldn’t help but feel compelled to take the seed after seeing Zhan Tiri so distraught. The sudden show of vulnerability had surprised Cassandra at the time; it was the first time she had seen Zhan Tiri as a _person_ , and not as some two-dimensional evil. From there Zhan Tiri only became more human in her eyes, more relatable to the point where it was unsettling.

In a million years Cassandra would have never guessed her backstory, how surprisingly mundane it was compared to what she expected. She got to see for herself the trials Zhan Tiri faced, the betrayal she suffered at the hands of Demanitus. When she had first told Cassandra that her story had been twisted over the millennia Cassandra didn't believe her, but after seeing it for herself, she couldn't deny that Zhan Tiri’s motivations made _sense._

Knowing everything she did, Cassandra didn’t believe that Zhan Tiri was as evil or monstrous as the legends made her out to be. Was she manipulative, dangerous, and a grade A asshole? Sure, but Cassandra wasn't convinced that it made Zhan Tiri _evil_. She was following her own path and minding her own business until Demanitus tried to put a stop to her quest, ultimately setting the sorceress on the path of vengeance. 

And Zhan Tiri’s past wasn't the only thing Cassandra got to see for herself. Her gut twisted as she remembered the brief amount of time she spent in Zhan Tiri's prison. Cassandra would never forget that feeling of empty nothingness, suffocating her and crushing in from all directions. The void was overwhelming in its emptiness. 

Not for the first time, Cassandra felt guilty about her plan to send Zhan Tiri back to that realm. The idea of reimprisoning Zhan Tiri didn’t sit right with her, but what other choice did she have? She tried to think of any other alternative to stop Zhan Tiri from destroying Corona, but Cassandra was drawing a blank. She didn't think she could send anyone to such a place in good conscience, let alone Zhan Tiri. The sorceress had already spent two long millennia in there, and her imprisonment had only served to push her farther down the path of vengeance.

Cassandra wondered if she could talk Zhan Tiri out of it. Maybe if she could convince her that enacting her revenge against Demanitus wasn't worth it, then she would back off from attacking Corona. It wasn't that Cassandra wanted to destroy Zhan Tiri; she just wanted to protect Corona from destruction. 

Suddenly Zhan Tiri began to stir from her place on the bench. As she began to sit up she noticed Cassandra sitting across from her, smirking.

"What happened to sleep is for the weak?" Cassandra mocked.

Zhan Tiri laughed sleepily, still returning to a conscious state. "I got to experience what it was like to sleep for the first time in two millennia. I retract that statement, sleep is a gift."

“I’m sorry, what was that? It _almost_ sounded like you admitted you were wrong. Don’t suppose you’re gonna offer me an apology, hm?”

“Don’t push your luck,” Zhan Tiri said with a smile. Her eyes fell on the seed resting in Cassandra’s hand and she looked at her in surprise. “The seed. You’ve held onto it?”

Cassandra blinked. “Uh, yeah, I guess I have. Honestly, I completely forgot I had it until a little while ago.”

Zhan Tiri smiled softly at it. “I’m glad you have it.”

“What’s the deal with the seed anyway?” Cassandra asked bluntly. “Are you gonna use it to replant the Great Tree or something?”

“Something like that,” Zhan Tiri said with a frown. “Unfortunately the task of restoring the Great Tree is not that simple. You see, the Great Tree isn’t...wasn’t any old tree.”

“Really? I would have never guessed,” Cassandra replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Zhan Tiri gave her a warning look.

“What made the Great Tree so powerful was that it was a sentient being, planted from a seed infused with a soul. It was the greatest source of magic I have ever encountered,” Zhan Tiri said with a wistful expression. 

“So that’s what you’re going to do after you destroy Corona? Restore the Great Tree?” Cassandra questioned.

“Among other things,” Zhan Tiri responded cryptically. “I have dedicated my life to magic, and I do not intend to rest now. Not when there is so much still to learn, so much left to accomplish. Once Corona has turned to ash and my promise to my dear Demanitus has been fulfilled, then I can turn back to my quest.”

Cassandra saw her opportunity to try to talk Zhan Tiri out of her plan. “Why wait?”

Zhan Tiri was surprised by the question. “Pardon me?”

“If your quest is your life’s goal, why put it on hold for Demanitus? It doesn’t seem like he’s worth all of this trouble,” Cassandra said dryly.

For once in her life, Zhan Tiri didn’t have an immediate response. Satisfied that she had actually managed to render the sorceress speechless, Cassandra continued to speak.

“Listen. Believe me when I say that there is nothing I want more than to prove to the world that I come second to no one, let alone Rapunzel. But the Moonstone gave me a new purpose, a new destiny, outside of all of that. And now that you’re free, you have the chance to find your _own_ destiny, one that doesn’t revolve around Demanitus and enacting revenge. You have a chance to start over and make a new name for yourself.”

Zhan Tiri frowned as she considered Cassandra’s words. Cassandra could see the wheels turning in her head, and for a moment Cass had hope that she might be getting through to her. That hope was squandered when she watched Zhan Tiri’s expression harden.

“Let me make myself clear, Cassandra,” Zhan Tiri began, and Cassandra flinched at her tone. “My destiny is the same as it has always been, and that will never change. But Demanitus must pay for what he has done. I have promised him the destruction of his beloved Corona, and I am not one to go back on my word. Do you understand?”

Cassandra went to argue, but decided against it. She could see that there was no talking Zhan Tiri out of it. “Yes, I understand.”

“Good,” Zhan Tiri responded, standing up from the bench. Without another word she walked away, leaving Cassandra alone with her thoughts.

To Cassandra’s disappointment, it was looking like she couldn’t give up her original plan after all. This was a woman who had lived in vengeance for too long, and Cassandra alone couldn’t undo two thousand years of pain of pain and hatred.


	15. Undercover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a fun one, i hope you guys enjoy! let me know what you think :)

Cassandra was lounging in the tower, lost in thought, when she heard a sharp " _hoot_ " from the balcony. When she turned, she saw Owl perched on the ledge with a piece of parchment clutched in his talons. Frowning, Cassandra collected the parchment from Owl and upon inspection found it was a note from Varian.

_Cass,_

_I'm at the bottom of the tower. Come meet me, it's important._

_-V_

The letter came as a surprise to Cassandra, given that it was incredibly late at night. What did Varian have to tell her that was so important? She suspected that it had to do with his trip to Demanitus's tomb earlier in the day.

Before Cassandra could even fold up the letter, the parchment was ripped from her hands by Zhan Tiri’s boomerang. She looked up just in time to see the boomerang return to Zhan Tiri’s hand with the letter, and Cassandra wanted to smack the smug grin off of her face.

“Seriously?” Cassandra snapped. “You could have just asked what was on it.”

“But where’s the fun in that?” Zhan Tiri smirked at her before reading over the letter. Cassandra suppressed the urge to throttle the sorceress. “What is the alchemist doing here so late at night?”

“Great question. I was about to go find out, before your little stunt with the boomerang,” Cassandra said with a glare.

Zhan Tiri shrugged, clearly feeling no remorse. “Very well.”

With one last roll of her eyes, Cass slipped out over the balcony and lowered herself down to ground level using the black rocks. When she reached the bottom of the tower, she found Varian standing there waiting for her. Cassandra was struck by how _exhausted_ Varian looked.

"You look like you've had a long day," Cassandra commented with a frown.

"You have no idea," Varian said wearily, sounding every bit as tired as he looked. "They dropped me off in Old Corona a little while ago, and I came here as soon as I could."

"What happened?" Cassandra asked, concerned. "Were you able to find the plans?" Varian's eyes brightened at the question, and Cassandra felt a surge of relief.

"Yes! I have them right here," Varian said, patting his messenger bag. "The book was in the tomb just like I thought, so I grabbed it. Lance made things _much more difficult than they needed to be_ , but, that's a story for another day. The point is, I have the plans, and the good news is that I can construct the machine! There's some pieces I'm missing that I need to go out and find tomorrow, but the actual building part of it doesn't seem too difficult. We're still cutting it close to the eclipse, but I'm pretty confident I can get it done before then."

"How confident?" Cassandra asked, and Varian thought it over.

"About 95% confident," Varian said.

"That's great," Cassandra said, and Varian beamed. "We can work with that. And in the 5% chance it goes wrong...well, at least you warned Rapunzel."

Varian looked away from Cassandra, running his hand through his hair nervously. She stared back at him. "You _did_ warn Rapunzel, right?"

"I, uh-no. No, I did not," Varian said sheepishly, and Cassandra felt dread wash over her. "I tried, but I may have gotten distracted and completely forgot afterwards."

Cassandra kicked herself again for not mentioning anything when she had last spoken with Rapunzel. No matter; Cassandra decided she would speak to Rapunzel again herself. That way she could warn her not only about the loss of her protective magic, but also to keep her guard up in the next few days. Clearly Zhan Tiri wasn’t going to back down from her plan, and Cassandra didn’t want Rapunzel to be completely blindsided if things went wrong.

"Fine. I'll go tomorrow to warn Rapunzel myself," Cassandra said and was surprised to see Varian's face twist with panic.

"You can't!" he exclaimed, and Cassandra lifted an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" she asked, skeptical.

"That was the other thing I came here to talk to you about,” Varian began, sounding nervous. “Long story short, Corona has a weapon that they can use against you. I just found out about it earlier from Rapunzel."

Cassandra's blood ran cold. "A weapon? What are you talking about?"

Varian took a deep breath before beginning his tale. "It's called Project Obsidian. I-I designed it myself. But it was _never_ supposed to be used as a weapon. I built it after the red rocks came; it was designed to shoot out Flynnoleum so that the black rocks could be destroyed from a safe distance away. I was asked to make another one to keep in the castle, and I agreed, and it's been there ever since. Then the black rocks disappeared a couple months later and Project Obsidian became kind of useless after that, so it's been collecting dust since. But then I was talking with Rapunzel earlier, and she mentioned that the king is trying to repurpose Project Obsidian as a defense against you. They figured that if it can stop the black rocks, that it could stop the person who can control the black rocks. And...if they use it on you...well, the best case scenario is that it traps you in amber."

"And the worst case scenario?" Cassandra asked, afraid of the answer.

"Worst case scenario, well, um...you're tied to the black rocks, so there's a chance it could kill you,” Varian finished, avoiding Cassandra’s gaze.

Cassandra flinched. Was her kingdom actually willing to use a weapon that could _kill_ her?

"Do you really think they would use it?" Cass whispered.

Varian shifted his weight back and forth. "I'm not sure if they would, but I don't want to find out. That's why you can't go to Corona; it's too risky."

Cassandra thought it over for a bit. "I...appreciate the concern, Varian, but I have to at least try to warn Rapunzel. I have the cloak; I'll be able to slip in and out, no problem. They won't even know I'm there."

"Did you not hear the part about the weapon that might be able to kill you?" Varian countered, stunned. "Even if you are careful, why risk it?"

"Because I need to talk to Rapunzel," Cassandra defended.

"Why do you want to talk to Rapunzel so badly all of a sudden?" Varian asked seriously. “Until you ran into her a couple weeks ago, you seemed dead set on not talking to her until this was all over.”

"It’s just...I need to warn her to be careful. That's all," Cassandra said evenly.

"That's all?" Varian studied her face for a moment and it clicked. He grinned cheekily. "A-ha! I see what this is now. You're in love with-"

"Kid if you finish that sentence, I promise I will hit you with a rock."

"-Rapunzel." Cassandra gave him a withering glare. "That makes so much sense! I don't know how I didn't see it before."

"Shut up,” Cassandra snapped, flustered. “Go home and sleep, Varian."

"Normally I would argue, but I am actually exhausted. But, once I have slept, you know I'm not going to let you live this down, right?" he teased with a toothy grin. Cassandra briefly wondered if this is what it was like to have a younger sibling. was suddenly grateful that she was raised as an only child.

"Keep it up and I'll send you on another day trip with Lance," Cassandra threatened.

Varian scowled at the reminder of his day. "Today was an experience that I would never like to repeat, thank you very much. How did you survive a year on the road with the three of them?"

"I didn't," Cassandra deadpanned, pointing to her arm.

"Fair point," Varian responded with a frown. "And seriously, Cass...if you're actually going into Corona tomorrow...just be careful."

"I will be," Cassandra promised. "Now go. You look like you're about to pass out."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Varian sighed.

With that he was off, walking in the direction of Old Corona. Once he was out of sight Cassandra made her way back to the top of the tower, and found Zhan Tiri perched on the bench reading through one of her books. Violet eyes glanced up to look at Cassandra curiously as she entered.

"What was that about?" she inquired.

Unable to think of a lie on the spot, Cassandra settled for a partial truth. "He...came to warn me. He found out that Corona has a weapon that they can use against me."

"A weapon?" Zhan Tiri repeated, raising an eyebrow in interest. "Do tell."

Reluctantly, Cassandra shared the information she learned from Varian with Zhan Tiri. She wasn't sure what kind of reaction she was anticipating from the sorceress, but Cassandra wasn't expecting for her to laugh in her face.

"What's so funny?" Cassandra demanded, eyes narrowed.

"The fact that you're surprised," Zhan Tiri simpered. "Have I not been telling you for _months_ now that Corona will not rest until you submit or have been stripped of your power? They will not stop until you have been defeated. I thought you would have learned that by now."

"I-" Cassandra began, then hesitated. "I don't know why I'm surprised."

"Then I'll tell you why," Zhan Tiri said simply. "It's because there is a part of you that still harbors some attachment to Corona."

"You're wrong," Cassandra defended, although the statement sounded flimsy, even to her own ears.

"Am I?" Zhan Tiri countered sweetly. "Do not lie to me, Cassandra. You forget that we are alike, and I understand you more than you think."

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure you understand me?" Cassandra sneered.

"Because I was you," Zhan Tiri countered, losing patience. "Ambitious. Passionate. Dedicated. Talented. Loyal. It's just that I gave my loyalty to the wrong person, and I ended up paying the price for it. Learn from my mistakes, Cassandra. You may have been loyal to your kingdom, but your kingdom has _never_ been loyal to you. You have never been anything more than a pawn to them. Now that you have grown into your power and are beyond their control, they will take the first opportunity to strike you down."

"That's not true.”

"Have I ever lied to you, Cassandra?" Zhan Tiri asked bluntly.

Cassandra sneered at the question. "Oh please. Don't pretend like you're so forthcoming with the truth, Zhan."

"The point, my dear, is that I’ve never lied to you. So believe me when I tell you that if given the chance, Corona will not hesitate to destroy you, just like they sought to destroy me. They managed to imprison me and strip me of my power. What makes you think that they will treat you any different?"

Cassandra couldn't think of a response. "I-It doesn't matter what they think of me."

"Doesn't it? If you're so sure that it doesn’t matter, why don't you go see for yourself what it is _exactly_ Corona thinks of you?" Zhan Tiri challenged. "I'm afraid you won’t like what you find."

"Fine. I was planning on going into Corona tomorrow anyway," Cassandra shot back.

Zhan Tiri looked at her, amused. "Really? For what purpose?"

Cassandra realized she had backed herself into a corner. "I figured it would be good to see what's going on before the eclipse. I don't know if they made any changes to security since the last time I visited."

"Very well," Zhan Tiri said, her amused smile never faltering. "I would recommend you keep your trip brief. If they find you out, I'm afraid things will not go well for you, my dear."

"I'll be careful."

"Suit yourself," Zhan Tiri shurgged.

* * *

In the early hours of the morning, Cassandra slipped out of the tower and headed in the direction of Corona. Her conversations with Varian and Zhan Tiri weighed heavily on her as she walked through the sun-kissed forest, but she did her best to put them out of her mind. All that mattered right now was getting into Corona undetected, finding and warning Rapunzel, and slipping out of the kingdom without notice. With the cloak, the task would be a breeze.

Before long Cassandra made it to the edge of the forest where she stared out across the river at the castle. As she scanned the area, she noticed large crowds making their way across the bridge and onto the island. Cassandra frowned, wondering why so many people were making their way towards the castle today. Eventually she noticed the large purple banners adorned with the sun insignia, the market stands clustered at the other end of the bridge, and the faint sound of music in the distance, and Cassandra realized that today was the summer solstice.

Cassandra groaned. Of course the Solstice Festival was going on. Why wouldn't it be? Corona was always celebrating something every two seconds. Oh well. At least she would be able to blend in with the crowd.

Using the cloak to shift into a random disguise, Cassandra cut through the forest and made her way over to the bridge. She effortlessly blended into the flocks of people crossing over onto the island and managed to cross without incident.

Once on the island, she was able to appreciate the liveliness of the festival. There were vendors lined up along the streets, cheerfully greeting passersby as they attempted to sell their goods. The pleasant aroma of food filled the air, and she could hear the sound of live music being played from somewhere nearby. With a pang of nostalgia, Cassandra realized that it had been a long time since Cassandra had last seen one of Corona's many festivals.

The increased security presence at the festival did not escape her attention. That was new, and she suspected that she had something to do with it. Her suspicions were confirmed when she noticed the frequency with which she saw the wanted posters with her face on it. Cassandra grimaced at the sight of them. It looked like she was public enemy number one, after all.

Cass tried to put that thought out of her head. She had to focus on getting into the castle, and getting to Rapunzel. That was all that mattered.

With her goal firmly in mind, she swiftly made her way to one of the many entrances to the tunnel system under Corona. Before she could turn the corner and make it to the entrance, she froze in her tracks, noticing another posted flyer with her face on it.

Except, this flyer was not one of the many wanted posters that depicted the mirror image of her face with a stony stare. No, _this_ paper appeared to be an advertisement for a play, nauseatingly titled “The Triumph of Princess Rapunzel”. This depiction of her was not nearly as accurate or kind as the illustration on the wanted posters. In this flyer, Cassandra was illustrated standing across from Rapunzel as some kind of horrible monster, complete with horns and sharp teeth. This fanged caricature unsettled Cassandra, infinitely more so than the wanted poster did.

At the sight of it, words that Zhan Tiri spoke to her months ago echoed in her head.

_"I told you, we are not so different after all. You don’t think the people of Corona are talking about you, slandering you and the reputation that you worked your entire life to build? You betrayed their beloved princess and took power for yourself, which makes you a monster in their eyes.”_

" _Wait long enough and the story of Cassandra will only grow and become an unrecognizable caricature of you, your legacy reduced to the fanged evil witch that lives in the woods.”_

Was this really how her kingdom, _her home_ , saw her? As some type of horrible monster who needed to be destroyed?

Not for the first time, Cassandra had to wonder; what had she done to warrant this? Yes, she had made some choices that looked...questionable from the outside, but she didn't believe that she had done anything to the degree that warranted this treatment.

Her conversation with Zhan Tiri the night before rang through her mind again, her words and warnings echoing in her head.

 _Was Zhan Tiri right?_ Had her kingdom truly turned its back on her?

 _No._ This was all just some giant misunderstanding. She wasn't the bad guy; everything she was doing she was doing to protect Corona. She was certain that Corona would understand when this was all over. Cassandra would prove herself by taking down Zhan Tiri, and her kingdom would recognize her as the capable warrior she was.

She would prove to them that _this_ was not who she was.

With newfound determination, she snuck into the tunnel system and steadily made her way towards the castle. Her journey through the tunnels was swift and uneventful, and before long she emerged out into one of the castle’s side rooms. Before she could step out, she heard the sound of someone approaching and noticed Faith standing to the side of the room. Cass quickly retreated out of sight, peeking around the corner to observe.

Cassandra watched as Crowley enter the room, stomping up towards Faith. The handmaiden flinched as Crowley approached with a scowl on her face. The old woman admonished Faith for her terrible job with flower collection for the festival, and reassigned her to go back out into the forest and try again. Crowley stormed off with the same sense of purpose as from when she entered. Shortly after, Faith fled the room to complete her assignment, her face pinched with stress. Something told Cassandra that the handmaiden would not be returning any time soon.

The encounter gave Cassandra an idea. Knowing Faith would be absent from the castle, Cassandra shifted her disguise to look like the handmaiden. Satisfied, Cassandra set out in search of Rapunzel.

Fortunately, the task of finding the princess did not take long. Moments after turning out of the room where she encountered Faith, into a long corridor, Rapunzel sprinted past her with Eugene in tow. She stopped suddenly when she noticed “Faith” walking down the hall.

"Faith!" Rapunzel called out, cheerful. "This is perfect timing! If you're not too busy, I could really use your help." As Cassandra stood there, startled, Rapunzel rambled excitedly about what she had planned for the day, listing off a series of errands she needed to run in town and how great it would be if she had someone to keep her company.

"Normally I'd join, but I promised Lance that I would help him set up for the talent show," Eugene explained with a sigh, looking less than pleased with the task.

"So will you come with me?" Rapunzel pleaded.

_Could it really be this easy?_

"Uh-sure! I mean, of course, Your Highness," Cassandra curtsied.

"Great!" Rapunzel shouted in excitement. "And please, Faith, call me Rapunzel. Come on, let's go!"

With that, Rapunzel reached out and pulled Cassandra by the hand, unceremoniously dragging her down the corridors of the castle all the while rambling about all of the events of the day. Before Cassandra could even think of a way to pull Rapunzel aside and speak to her, she was whisked away into the crowded courtyard of the castle and into the busy streets of Corona.

Rapunzel was a force to be reckoned with, moving purposefully down the streets and interacting with everyone they came across. Her smile and boundless energy never faltered throughout her public appearance as she moved from place to place, a disguised Cassandra in tow. They made a series of stops in town, beginning with a stop at Xavier's shop to drop off books on the history of the Solstice Festival to share with festival attendees and ending with a stop to pick up chalk and other art supplies for people to use in the courtyard.

"Is that it?" Cassandra asked after leaving the art shop, arms full of supplies. Rapunzel mulled over the question for a moment before an idea occurred to her. She looked over her shoulder for a moment before turning back to Cassandra with a mischievous grin.

"Well, it's not _technically_ on the agenda, but I suppose there's _one_ more stop we can make," Rapunzel said with a pointed look at Attila's bakery. Cassandra grinned back at her.

"Say no more."

They collected some baked goods from Attila and settled down to eat them at a nearby table, Cassandra smiling at the sense of nostalgia she felt after a day of wandering with Rapunzel through the streets of Corona. The whole experience really felt like old times, with her and Rapunzel running around laughing and carefree while preparing for yet another one of Corona's infinite events. Cass could almost pretend that nothing had ever changed, that the caravan journey never happened.

"Mmm, wow, this pastry is just _incredible_ ," Rapunzel exclaimed in between bites. Cassandra laughed at the blissful look on her face.

"I do have to admit, it's pretty good," Cassandra responded with a soft smile, taking the last bite of her own pastry.

"'Pretty good'? More like, the best pastry to ever exist in Corona," Rapunzel fired back, taking another bite as Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"You say that about everything, Raps," she responded casually. Cass froze, realizing that she had slipped up. "I-I mean, Your Highness. Rapunzel."

"No! No, no, it's okay. Actually, an old friend used to call me that." Rapunzel said, smiling softly. "You know, I'm so glad that I have you here with me, Faith. It's so nice to see you come out of your shell!"

Cassandra shifted awkwardly. "Uh, thanks. It's been nice getting out and enjoying the festival with you today too. I really haven't...gotten out in a while."

Rapunzel beamed at her. "Then I'm glad we were able to do this together! You know, it's been nice having someone to enjoy the festival with, considering I used to spend festivals with..." she paused and sighed, her expression falling. "Well, it just...it just brings up a lot of memories."

Cassandra shared the sentiment. Now that the conversation has steered toward herself as the topic, Cass saw an opportunity to see what Rapunzel truly thought of her.

"You really do miss...Cassandra, huh?" Cass prodded, tentative. Rapunzel looked surprised by the question and nodded sadly.

"I do miss her. Cass is...," she trailed off, as if she wasn't sure how to finish that sentence. Rapunzel sighed. "Look, I know that everyone thinks that Cass is dangerous and a threat after all that's happened, but I don't buy it. I mean, I don't understand her methods or why she's acting the way she is, but I know she has her reasons and I _know_ that deep down she is still a good person."

"You really think so?" Cass whispered.

"I _know_ so," Rapunzel said with confidence. Cassandra was touched to see that Rapunzel had not given up on her, that she had kept her faith in Cassandra, even when the rest of the kingdom had turned against her.

Reminded of why she was here in the first place, Cassandra saw her chance to speak privately with Rapunzel. "Hey Raps, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Rapunzel seemed confused. "Oh, okay. What about?"

“Just promise me you won’t freak out. I’m risking a lot by being here,” Cassandra began nervously, and Rapunzel listened attentively. “I’m not Fai-”

“Hey Blondie!” Seemingly out of nowhere, Eugene popped up from behind Rapunzel and placed his hands on Rapunzel’s shoulders.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel exclaimed in pleasant surprise, turning around to plant a kiss on Eugene’s cheek.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Eugene said, pulling up a third chair to sit beside them.

 _You are,_ Cassandra thought bitterly, fighting the urge to glare at him.

“Actually, Faith was just trying to tell me something,” Rapunzel responded lightly, turning her attention back towards “Faith”. Cassandra stiffened, less than pleased with the current turn of events.

“You know what? Nevermind. I’ll tell you later. We...have to get back to the castle if we're going to make it in time for your dad's address."

Rapunzel frowned. “Huh, that’s coming up soon, isn’t it? I guess you’re right.”

The three of them picked up all of their purchases and headed towards the castle. Along the way they turned a corner, and Cassandra was surprised to face yet another flyer advertising that ridiculous play, “The Triumph of Princess Rapunzel”.

Cassandra flinched again at the sight of the unflattering depiction of herself. "What's this?"

She watched Rapunzel's usually cheerful expression sour. "Feldspar has taken...some creative liberties with the story of my more recent adventures, and wrote a play for the festival. As much as I'm in favor of people making art and expressing their creativity, I can't say I'm a fan of this one."

"Yeah, me neither," Cassandra commented with a frown.

Eugene turned towards Rapunzel with a similar frown. “Sunshine, you’re in charge of the festival. If you didn’t like the play, why did you approve it?”

Cassandra turned on Rapunzel, surprised by the piece of information. “You approved this?”

Rapunzel looked uncomfortable. “As much as I...disagree with certain elements of the play, Feldspar and some others really pushed for it. I didn’t feel right being the one to rain on their parade when they already put so much work into it and it got so much interest.”

“I thought you said earlier that you didn’t believe Cassandra was a threat,” Cassandra said evenly, gesturing to the flyer. “You’re not bothered at all that _this_ is how she is being portrayed throughout all of Corona? Because this play is only going to contribute to that image.”

“ _Of course_ I don’t believe that Cassandra is a threat,” Rapunzel began. Before she could continue to speak, Eugene cut her off.

“Again, Sunshine, if there wasn’t some teensy, tiny part of you that didn’t believe that Cass wasn’t a threat, then why did you sign off on the authorization for Project Obsidian?” Eugene asked with a frown, and Cassandra froze in her place.

 _Rapunzel would never_.

Apparently she would. Rapunzel stood frozen in shock at the question, but didn’t deny it. “Eugene, you were _there_. You know I didn’t have a choice.”

“Touché,” Eugene responded lightly, putting his arm around Rapunzel. He turned to Cassandra with a pointed look. “Besides; does it _matter_ what Corona thinks of Cass _an_ dra?”

“Of course it matters,” Cass snapped.

“Eh, to each their own,” Eugene said with a shrug. He smirked at her, and Cassandra got the strange sense that he could see straight through her.

* * *

As the day drew on, Cassandra’s anxiety grew by the minute. They had returned to the courtyard to drop off the supplies, and Cassandra again couldn’t help but notice the increased security presence compared to past years. In time, King Frederic gave his address to the festival-goers that had collected in the courtyard.

Listening to his words did nothing to quell Cassandra’s nerves. In fact, it had the opposite effect. The King commented in his address that in light of “recent events”, they had decided to keep all of the festival’s events within the confines of the kingdom, with many of them held directly in the courtyard. Although Rapunzel stood uncomfortably by the King’s side as he spoke, she made no comment on the matter. Her silence bothered Cassandra in a way she wasn’t sure how to articulate just yet.

When Rapunzel rejoined Cassandra and Eugene in the courtyard, Cassandra decided that it was time for her to pull Rapunzel aside and speak to her. She had already been here too long; she had to get this over with and leave.

"Hey Rapunzel? Can we talk?" she asked.

“Yeah, of course!” Rapunzel said, and Cassandra started to lead her off to the side. After a few steps she noticed Eugene was following them.

Cassandra narrowed her eyes at him. “In private?” she added.

Eugene seemed to have taken offense to the request. “Well you see, anything you tell Rapunzel, you are by extension telling me, so by having me there, you are technically still having the conversation in private.” Rapunzel looked taken aback, and Cassandra was not in the mood to deal with his nonsense. Cass was convinced that he was trying to get under her skin, and unfortunately, he was succeeding.

"Are you damaged, Fitzherbert? In private means _in private_ ," Cassandra snapped. She realized her mistake when Eugene narrowed his eyes in suspicion and Rapunzel looked at her in surprise.

"Hey, wait a minute, you’re not Faith," Eugene declared. Before Cassandra could react, he ripped the cloak off of her in one fluid motion, leaving her suddenly exposed in the middle of the crowd.

To say Cassandra was stunned would be an understatement, and judging by the sounds of gasps all around her, clearly she wasn’t the only one surprised. She stared at the smirk on Eugene's face in shock.

Cassandra didn’t know what she expected to happen in the situation she was exposed, but it certainly wasn’t this. She never expected the courtyard to erupt into chaos in this fashion, for people to run away from her, screaming, as guards turned to close in on her.

So much for subtlety.

"Cassandra?" Rapunzel gasped, her face a mixture of shock and horror.

"Rapunzel, listen, I can explain!" Cassandra said quickly, gesturing with her arms in front of her as she spoke.

Evidently, extending her arms in front of her wasn’t the best move to diffuse the situation.

"We have to protect the princess!" one of the guards cried out. Cassandra tensed, looking around in all directions, hoping that the situation would deescalate.

"Wait! Stand down!" Rapunzel commanded, but they ignored her orders.

"Step away from her, now!" the same guard demanded of Cassandra. A handful of guards charged at her with their halberds in hand, and Cass instinctively blocked their approach with the black rocks.

Clearly that was also the wrong move, because they doubled in on their descent. Guards were coming in from all directions, and Cassandra continued to block them from reaching her until Rapunzel grabbed her wrist.

"Cass, don't do this!" Rapunzel begged, and Cassandra stopped her defense to look at her. "Please, stop this, let's just talk."

"What do you think I came here to do?" Cassandra snapped. "Raps, I’ve been trying to tell you that-"

Cassandra was struck from behind before she could finish her sentence. Something _cold_ and _wrong_ and _painful_ impacted with her back, and a freezing, prickling sensation began to grow out from it. She cried out in pain and instinctively reached towards Rapunzel.

In front of her, Rapunzel and Eugene looked on in abject shock and horror. She didn’t realize what was happening until she could see the orange substance crawling over her body; it was _amber_ crystallizing over the surface of her armor, rapidly encasing her.

 _Project Obsidian_.

They had used it.

The last thing Cassandra heard was a sharp cry of _“No!”_ from Rapunzel and then she was encased completely, all of her senses cut off from the world around her.

Cassandra couldn’t move. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t _breathe_. All she could feel was the painfully cold and prickling sensation of the amber touching her skin and armor, and a sense of suffocation that was not unlike what she experienced in Zhan Tiri’s prison.

Panic rose within her, and she desperately wanted to fight and claw her way out, but _she was trapped_. She tried to summon black rocks from underneath her to free her from her crystalline prison, but to her frustration it wasn’t working.

Eventually, Cassandra’s panic gave way to shock as she processed the gravity of the situation. To her relief, it seemed that Varian’s fear that Project Obsidian could be fatal wasn’t true. While she was stuck in the amber, she was still very much alive. Although, that didn’t change the fact that the weapon was fired with the intention of killing her.

Her kingdom, her _home_ , had authorized and used lethal force on her. Cassandra knew that her actions looked questionable from the outside, but she was certain that she had done _nothing_ to deserve this. Everything she was doing, everything she had sacrificed, was to protect Rapunzel and Corona. And this was how they repaid her.

Cassandra’s feelings of pain and shock started to give way to fury and betrayal. Her anger was cold and sharp, and Cassandra clung to it like a lifeline.

She would find a way out of this; she just needed to _think_ , and she couldn’t do that until she set aside her panic. While she couldn't take a deep breath or close her eyes, Cassandra did her best to calm her nerves and _focus_.

So, she was trapped in amber. Fantastic. _Wonderful_. The question was; how could she get out?

Now that Cassandra managed to calm herself down, she remembered that she was not the first person to be in this situation. Varian’s father had been trapped in amber for well over a year, and he had made it out alive.

 _But_ how _did his dad make it out?_

A conversation she had a couple weeks ago with Varian returned to the forefront of her mind. She had asked him that exact question after seeing Quirin walk past Varian’s window, and Varian had shared that Rapunzel had freed his father from the amber using the decay incantation. Cassandra recalled gritting her teeth when Varian shared that fact, less than thrilled that Rapunzel decided that it was a good idea to use the decay incantation _again_.

Unfortunately, that fact was of little use to Cassandra at the moment, considering that Rapunzel didn’t have the power of the decay incantation anymore. That led Cassandra to a dead end, and she wanted to punch the surface of the amber in frustration. There had to be _something_ she could do to free herself.

Then the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. _Rapunzel_ might not be able to use the decay incantation, but according to Zhan Tiri, _Cassandra_ could.

Dread washed through her at the thought of using the decay incantation. Unfortunately, it was looking like she didn't have much of a choice. It was either try using the decay incantation, or hope that someone else would find a way to free her from the amber.

Cassandra decided that it was worth a shot. She couldn’t move her mouth to recite the words to the incantation, but she didn’t think that would be a problem.

She remembered something Zhan Tiri had mentioned during one of her magic lessons, after Cassandra had asked her what the point of an incantation was.

_“An incantation is merely a tool that is used to focus the power of magic," Zhan Tiri had explained. "Magic is all about intention, and the words of an incantation are used to focus that intention. That’s why incantations are helpful, but not strictly necessary.”_

Suddenly grateful for Zhan Tiri’s lessons, Cassandra focused on the power of the Moonstone within her chest, and focused on the words of the decay incantation within her mind.

 _Wither and decay_ ,

_End this destiny._

Cassandra could feel the magic within her pulse in a different, unfamiliar way, and she knew immediately the spell was working.

_Break these earthly chains,_

_And set the spirit free_

The amber closest to her body started to melt, and Cassandra found herself able to move slightly. The prickling sensation receded.

_Wither and decay,_

_End this destiny._

The rate at which the amber was retreating continued to increase, and soon Cassandra had enough freedom of motion to push against the surface of the amber.

_Break these earthly chains,_

_And set the spirit free._

The amber was gone, melted in a steaming puddle around her. Cassandra could now see the surprised faces of the people who had crowded around her while she was trapped, and saw as they slowly started to back away from her in fear. The fury Cass had felt while trapped in the amber returned in full force, and she narrowed her eyes at the crowd surrounding her.

"Project Obsidian, huh?” Cassandra said darkly. She saw people flinch under the iciness of her glare as she looked around. Eventually her eyes landed on the weapon that now lay discarded on the ground. It looked like the identity of the guard that fired it would remain a mystery to her, but that didn’t matter. All of them were equally guilty in her eyes. “Using that was a mistake.”

“Cassandra, wait!” Rapunzel cried out, but this time Cassandra ignored her plea. She kept her eye on the weapon, and noticed some of the guards had begun to dive for it as others closed in on her from her periphery.

Cassandra felt something cold and bitter within her snap.

This wasn’t a battle she was willing to lose.

_Wither and decay,_

_End this destiny._

The effect was instant. The guards began to slow down, their movements becoming sluggish. Cassandra continued, refusing to back down until she was certain she had the upper hand.

_Break these earthly chains,_

_And set the spirit free._

No one was moving now. Everyone was lying crumpled on the ground, drained from the decay spell, a feeling that Cassandra knew firsthand to be debilitating. With everyone around her incapacitated, Cassandra let go of the decay incantation. She then used the power of the Moonstone to summon a single black rock that shattered Project Obsidian into pieces.

Sparing one last withering glare at the crowd, Cassandra turned and fled the courtyard.

She did not look back.

* * *

Eugene walked through the halls of the castle with a scowl on his face, not thrilled with the day he was having.

_Stupid Lance. Stupid talent show._

He wasn’t sure what he expected when Lance enlisted his help in setting up for the talent show, but he certainly wasn’t expecting to be sent on a wild goose chase around the castle to look for props. Eugene was out looking for yet _another_ confetti cannon, because according to Lance, the three he already had just weren’t enough.

 _“I know you already spent two hours looking for these, but I need another one, Eugene,”_ he said.

 _“I can’t have just three confetti cannons. It needs to be symmetrical, Eugene,”_ he said.

Eugene was ready to put his head through the wall and scream. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t considered the possibility of directly firing a confetti cannon at Lance.

He hoped that Rapunzel was having a better time with the festival than he was. He couldn’t wait to be done with this unnecessarily extravagant talent show so he could rant to her about the nonsense he had to put up with all day.

Eugene turned the corner and froze when he saw someone else standing in the hallway.

“Wh-what the-” Eugene stammered out, trying desperately to make sense of the sight before him. Leaning casually against the wall across from Eugene was...well, another Eugene. His double, anyway. The impostor had his arms crossed against his chest and he smirked at Eugene, as if he had been waiting patiently for him.

"What is _this_? Who are you?" Eugene snapped, less than thrilled with the turn this already terrible day had taken. "Listen buddy, there is only enough room for one Eugene Fitzherbert in this world and you are not it, thank you very much."

Eugene was caught off guard by his impostor's distinctly feminine laughter. He watched the impostor shift before his eyes in a flash of purple. When the violet light faded there was a woman with lavender hair and piercing purple eyes standing there, her cat-like smile never faltering. Eugene realized that he recognized her; she was the strange woman they had encountered in Varian's lab a couple weeks back.

“We have met before, but I’m afraid we’ve never been properly introduced,” the woman said, her voice sickly sweet. “Although, I suppose now is not an appropriate time for introductions, given the...events that unfolded today. But that is no matter. We will meet again soon enough.”

 _That was ominous_.

“Events? What are you talking about?” Eugene demanded. The woman’s chiding laugh rang like a bell.

"You missed quite the spectacle in the courtyard. If I were you, my dear, I'd go check in with that princess of yours,” she said with a pointed smirk, and Eugene felt his stomach twist at the implication that Rapunzel might be in danger.

“ _Rapunzel!_ ” Eugene exclaimed as he turned to sprint towards the courtyard, all thoughts of the confetti cannon gone from his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because my dear friend and beta reader insisted that i include this piece of information, the alternate title for this chapter was "Cassandra and a Series of Unfortunate Decisions". for obvious reasons, of course.


	16. Nothing Left to Lose

Cassandra sprinted through the streets of Corona, ignoring the sound of people screaming in her wake. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she focused on her escape. Running was all that mattered at the moment; she couldn’t let herself think about anything else, not without falling apart. Soon enough she was over the bridge and sprinting through the familiar verdant woods of the mainland. Though she fought to keep her focus on running, she couldn’t stop the intrusive images that flashed through her mind.

_The shock on Rapunzel's face as the cloak was ripped from Cassandra's shoulders._

_Royal guards closing in on her, weapons at the ready._

_Townspeople running from her in fear, screaming._

_Amber crawling over every inch of her body, encasing her completely in a crystalline prison, cutting off all of her senses from the outside world._

_Trapped. Suffocated. Betrayed._

Cassandra couldn't fight back the memories anymore. Alone in the middle of the woods, she screamed and blindly lashed out with the power of the Moonstone. Black rocks erupted from the ground in all directions, decimating trees that had the misfortune of existing in the vicinity. All of her rage, fear, and frustration exploded out of her. When the last large tree fell, Cass settled down on the ground beside it, feeling hollow. She hugged her knees to her chest as she allowed the events of the day to wash over her.

They had actually done it. Corona, her kingdom, her _home_ , had authorized and used lethal force on her. She could hardly believe it.

What had she done to warrant a death sentence? Yes, her actions from a month ago certainly looked... _bad_ from the outside, but she had done nothing in the courtyard to warrant such a lethal attack. Cassandra had done nothing but defend herself from an unprovoked attack. After all, she was only there to talk to Rapunzel.

The thought of the princess twisted the knife in Cassandra’s heart. As much as it stung to see her kingdom turn their back on her and paint her as some kind of monster, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as knowing that Rapunzel was complicit in perpetuating that image, that she had gone as far as to sign off on Project Obsidian. If Rapunzel really believed in Cassandra as much as she claimed earlier in the day, she sure had a funny way of showing it. 

Cassandra remembered defending herself from attack in the courtyard, remembered how Rapunzel had grabbed her wrist and begged her to stop, even though she wasn’t the one who had incited the violence. And Cassandra had obliged; she had listened to Rapunzel, _stupidly_ turning her back on the guards to face the princess. She had stood down, and what did they do? They took the opportunity to shoot her in the back without warning.

Which begs the question of _why_? Why was Corona so quick to turn on her, to brand her as some inhuman monster that needed to be destroyed? Cassandra had been nothing but loyal to Corona her entire life, had dreamed of becoming a member of the Royal Guard, maybe even succeeding her father as Captain someday. Everything she had ever done was to protect Corona and to protect Rapunzel. Cass had put her ambition and entire life on hold to accompany and protect Rapunzel on the caravan journey, and then she had sacrificed everything else when she took on the task of stopping Zhan Tiri. She had spent an entire _year_ enduring life on the road with no home and no company (save for Zhan Tiri herself) because, quite frankly, she was the only one who took the threat seriously. No one else would have gone to the same lengths as to prevent the sorceress from destroying Corona.

But Corona didn't see that, nor did they put any faith in Cassandra. All they saw was a young woman who had taken power for herself and turned her back on the kingdom. To Corona, that was unforgivable. Instead, _this_ was how her loyalty was repaid; shot from behind, not with the intention to subdue or apprehend, but to kill.

Zhan Tiri’s words from the night before echoed in her head:

_“You may have been loyal to your kingdom, but your kingdom has never been loyal to you. You have never been anything more than a pawn to them. Now that you have grown into your power and are beyond their control, they will take the first opportunity to strike you down."_

Cassandra’s heart sank; it looked like Zhan Tiri had been right. 

This entire time, Cassandra had believed once everything was over and she had revealed that she was never a traitor, Corona would recognize her extraordinary efforts to protect the kingdom. That’s what this was about, after all; proving herself as a capable warrior and protector, proving to everyone that she was someone worthy of respect and admiration. It was what she had worked tirelessly for her entire life.

But after the events of the day, Cassandra knew that she needed to confront the possibility that even if she succeeded in stopping Zhan Tiri, her kingdom might not welcome her back with open arms. That was a devastating possibility, but after seeing firsthand just what Corona thought of her and the passive role Rapunzel had in enabling that image, Cassandra realized that it was a very possible outcome. 

What if her kingdom never welcomed her back, never recognized the sacrifices she had made? Even if she stopped Zhan Tiri, would they still see Cassandra as the villain? Would they ever listen to her, or try to understand that she was on their side the whole time? Would they try to imprison her? Would they subject her to the same fate as Zhan Tiri? She was afraid to learn the answers.

Cassandra wanted to kick herself for being so naive as to believe that Corona would welcome her back as a hero when they had only ever treated her as a loyal servant at best. They didn't care about Cassandra; all of her life, nothing she did was ever enough. She worked twice as hard as anyone else, yet every single time she was cast aside, her hard work ignored. Protecting the kingdom from Zhan Tiri was supposed to be her moment center stage, her destiny. Until now, she had never considered that maybe her efforts would once again go unacknowledged, and that she would be left forever waiting in the wings.

She wasn’t sure how long she remained there crumpled on the forest floor, feeling as if her entire world had been ripped out from under her. Eventually her overwhelming thoughts and emotions gave way to numbness, and Cassandra managed to pick herself up. As if in a daze, she slowly made her way back to the tower, unsure of where else to go from here. 

When she entered the massive space on the top of the tower, Cassandra saw Zhan Tiri sitting on the balcony, pensively staring out over the kingdom. Noticing Cassandra’s return, the sorceress turned to look at her. Cassandra refused to meet Zhan Tiri’s scrutinizing gaze.

"Let me guess," Zhan Tiri began, her tone light as she studied Cassandra’s expression. "Your trip to Corona did not go as you expected."

"You could say that," Cassandra said flatly, not in the mood to entertain a conversation. 

“And what did you find?” Zhan Tiri probed. Evidently, she wouldn’t stop pushing for details until Cassandra offered them.

“You were right,” Cassandra said through gritted teeth, hating that she was giving Zhan Tiri the satisfaction. The pain and betrayal from earlier came flooding back in with a vengeance. "They took the first opportunity they had to try and strike me down."

"You poor thing,” Zhan Tiri lamented, standing up from her position on the balcony. “But now you know, and that knowledge will only make you stronger."

"I guess." Cassandra started walking to the opposite end of the tower, sparing a brief glance in Zhan Tiri's direction. The smirk she saw on Zhan Tiri’s face made her freeze in her tracks as puzzle pieces in her mind clicked together.

Cassandra had seen that exact smirk on Eugene’s face earlier in the day, and only now did she recognize the expression as that same, stupid smirk she had seen every day for the past year. Cassandra felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

No wonder “Eugene” knew to pull off the cloak; _it was Zhan Tiri the whole time_. She had manipulated the entire thing.

" _You,"_ Cassandra snarled as she turned on Zhan Tiri, furious. Blue lightning crackled from the opal as her anger intensified. " _You_ did this, _you_ followed me and pulled off the cloak!" Fueled by her rage, Cassandra lunged in Zhan Tiri’s direction, attacking the sorceress with a bombardment of black rocks.

Cassandra clearly had given no thought to who she had just lashed out against. Before she could even raise her arm to attack Zhan Tiri with another barrage of rocks, the sorceress extended her arms in front of her, summoning a pulsating mass of vines that whipped in from the open balcony in a violent cascade. The vines struck quickly and wrapped tightly around Cassandra, binding her. She thrashed in their grip and found she couldn't break free despite her best efforts.

"Attacking me is unwise," Zhan Tiri admonished with a bone-chilling glare, the smirk gone from her face.

“Let me go!” Cassandra demanded, continuing to fight against the vines. The vice-like grip only grew tighter as she struggled.

"Not until you quit throwing a tantrum,” Zhan Tiri retorted.

“Are you kidding me? Your little _stunt_ back there could have gotten me killed!”

“Your anger is misplaced,” Zhan Tiri countered. “I may have been the one to pull the cloak, but I am _not_ the one who pulled the trigger.”

Those words hit Cassandra like a slap across the face. It was true. All Zhan Tiri did was reveal that Cassandra was standing in their midst; it was the people of Corona who had tried to destroy her.

Cassandra's fury was once again replaced by a cold numbness as she remembered what Corona had done. The fight had gone out of her, and she quit thrashing against the grip of the vines. Sensing her crumbling resolve, Zhan Tiri saw her chance to appeal to Cassandra.

“Your doubts were holding you back,” Zhan Tiri explained quietly. “You needed to see for yourself exactly what Corona thinks of you."

"Did you know that it wouldn't kill me?" Cassandra asked seriously. Zhan Tiri's expression faltered at the question. 

"No, I did not," Zhan Tiri admitted. "The...situation escalated faster than I anticipated. It was never supposed to go that far. I merely wanted you to see what Corona truly thought of you, and well, now we both know. I have to admit, even I didn't think they would have fired a potentially lethal weapon on you without warning and without hesitation. But, clearly we were both wrong on that front. " 

Cassandra remembered the look of genuine shock and horror on "Eugene's" expression and realized Zhan Tiri was telling the truth. Somehow, that fact made her feel even worse.

"Now, are you quite finished trying to skewer me, or do I need to keep you as you are?" Zhan Tiri asked sarcastically, gesturing to the vines. Cassandra glared at her in response, but made no other move. Zhan Tiri took that as a yes and retracted the vines, lowering Cassandra back to the ground. 

Free from the vines, Cassandra slowly moved to sit down on one of the ledges of the tower, feeling miserable. She sat there for a moment in silence looking out over the forest below her before Zhan Tiri joined her, sitting beside her on the ledge.

"For what it is worth, I am sorry all of this happened,” Zhan Tiri said softly. 

"Me too," Cassandra whispered, an edge of bitterness in her voice. 

“Now, do you see what I have been trying to tell you all along? Corona was never deserving of your loyalty. Your entire life they treated you as nothing more than their pawn, a tool, a _servant_. You could have spent your entire life working, and they would never have appreciated your efforts. In Corona, you would have been destined to wait forever for recognition that would never come. There is nothing you could have ever done to earn their respect.”

Those words twisted the knife in Cassandra's heart. Unfortunately, Zhan Tiri wasn’t finished rubbing salt in the wound just yet. 

“You are right to feel angry, Cassandra. Corona has cast you aside your entire life, and the moment you took power for yourself, found a destiny greater than what they could offer you, they sought to destroy you for it. Even your beloved princess was complicit in what happened today. Corona seeks to strip you of your destiny to suit their own purposes. They saw that you have ambition, and since they could not subdue it, they sought to vilify you for it. I should know, _because it is what they did to me_ ,” Zhan Tiri spat, a fiery expression on her face.

Those last words left an impression on Cassandra. For the first time, she felt as if she fully understood the sorceress. Cass had seen firsthand the trials and tribulations Zhan Tiri had endured as the result of Demanitus’s betrayal, and now that Cassandra herself had been betrayed, she had a new appreciation for the depth of pain and anger that Zhan Tiri harbored. 

As the sorceress continued her speech, Cassandra considered that maybe she and Zhan Tiri weren’t so different after all. 

"The way Corona behaved today is not anything new. Their distrust and fear of magic runs deep, and they have a long and brutal history of stomping it out. They feared my power and ambition, called me a demon from another realm, and had me imprisoned for it. They conquered Saporia, a land where magic was an integral part of our history and culture, under the guise of Unification and wiped my homeland from existence.” 

Zhan Tiri paused and took a deep breath in an effort to regain her composure.

“The point, my dear, is that history has a way of repeating itself. They twisted my story long before they began to twist yours, so it should be no surprise that Corona will not rest until they have eliminated you as a threat.”

Those words hung over Cassandra’s head like a storm cloud, and a sense of desolation crashed over her. She stared out solemnly at the kingdom below her and was surprised when Zhan Tiri suddenly grabbed her hand. 

“But you are not helpless, Cassandra," the sorceress asserted. Cass looked up and met Zhan Tiri's fierce gaze. "You are _powerful_ , and you have the opportunity to show them once and for all _exactly_ how powerful you are. You can make them pay, and prove to them that they were fools for ever casting you aside. You can prove to them that you are destined for greatness."

Cassandra would be lying if she said those words weren’t tempting. There was a part of her that wanted Corona to pay for how she had been treated. She wanted them to pay for casting her aside all of these years, for refusing to acknowledge her worth as someone more than just the Captain’s adopted daughter, more than just Rapunzel’s lady-in-waiting, and for being so quick to turn their back on her.

It would be so easy to exact vengeance. Cassandra wouldn’t even have to lift a finger. All she had to do was step out of Zhan Tiri’s way, and Corona would pay the price. 

A maelstrom of emotions twisted within her, and Cassandra chose to cling to her quiet fury. It was easier that way, holding onto anger. It was cold and sharp, and hurt far less than holding onto doubt or fear or despair. 

Corona wanted to make an enemy out of her, the one person standing in the way of Zhan Tiri? Fine then; they could face the consequences of that decision. She would step out of Zhan Tiri's way, and Corona would regret ever turning on Cassandra. 

"So tell me, my dear. Are you still conflicted?" Zhan Tiri asked with a smirk.

"No. Not anymore."

***

Dawn broke the next morning, and Cassandra looked out over the kingdom as she stewed in her pain and anger. Cassandra decided to spend the morning training, finding it a good distraction to her thoughts and a way to channel the emotions that threatened to consume her. As she trained, she let herself acknowledge those feelings, and used them as justification for her decision.

Cassandra had been cast aside, defamed, and shot at. And if yesterday was any indication, that treatment was never going to change. Why should she risk putting everything on the line to stop Zhan Tiri when it was _Corona_ who was actively seeking Cassandra’s destruction? Ironically, it seemed that the person that she had initially set out to destroy was the only person who recognized her worth. Where Cassandra had been hesitant about re-imprisoning Zhan Tiri, she was now firmly against the action. Why would Cassandra send her back to that horrible, empty void when she now understood why Zhan Tiri was so hellbent on vengeance in the first place? Now more than ever Cassandra believed that Zhan Tiri was justified in her anger.

So, Cassandra had made peace with her choice. She would prove to Corona that they had made a mistake by casting her aside, and that was the end of it. 

There was only one complication that left Cassandra feeling uneasy: Varian. She wasn’t sure what to do about the alchemist, given that she was the one who had brought him in on this plan. Cassandra suspected that Varian would have... _opinions_ about her change of heart, and it was a conversation that she wanted to avoid. She considered the option of avoiding Varian entirely, but that wouldn’t be possible considering that Cassandra needed to collect the stone from him at some point. Not to mention the fact that Varian was stubborn and would hunt her down if he didn’t hear from her soon.

As if on cue, Cassandra was interrupted from her thoughts by a sharp "hoot". She turned and saw Owl sitting on the ledge, clutching what was almost certainly a letter from Varian. He tilted his head to the side, leveling a concerned look at Cassandra.

"Don't give me that look,” Cassandra said with a frown. Owl gestured for Cassandra to take the letter. Varian had returned from his journey to collect the parts for the portal, and asked if Cass could stop by the lab.

Owl looked at her expectantly, and Cassandra sighed. It looked like there was no putting off this conversation. "Alright. Let's go."

***

Cassandra knocked urgently on the door to Varian’s lab, hoping that he would be quick to open it. With the shapeshifting cloak left behind in Corona, Cassandra was left exposed. Thankfully, Varian opened the door almost immediately, his smile brightening at the sight of Cassandra.

"Cass!" he exclaimed in excitement, already scampering back inside. Ruddiger followed in his wake, chittering with the same level of enthusiasm. 

"Hey Varian," Cassandra greeted, following the alchemist inside. Even to her own ears her voice sounded empty and tired. 

Varian didn't seem to notice Cassandra’s hollow tone. He immediately launched into a fervent account of his adventure to the Neserdnian market the day before to acquire parts for the portal's construction. He went into excruciating detail about the wares he encountered at the market, rambling at length about the amazing alchemical supplies they carried. Cassandra listened half-heartedly, steeling herself for the tough conversation that was inevitably coming. 

Part way through, he realized that he had gotten off topic and caught himself. " _Point is_ , the Neserdnian market had all of the pieces I was missing to build the portal. Some of the things were really difficult to find, but I managed," Varian said with a cocky grin, patting the large wooden box that contained his findings. "And _that_ was the hard part. From here, it's all smooth sailing."

"That's great, Varian," Cassandra said flatly. She decided to cut to the chase. "Where's the stone?"

"Th-the stone?" Varian stammered with a frown, taken off guard by the abrupt question. Hesitantly, he pointed to where the stone sat on the lab bench nearby. "It's over here. W-why?"

Cassandra walked up to the lab bench and picked up the stone, clutching it tightly in her hand. She considered leaving with it immediately, but the concerned and vulnerable look on Varian’s face made her pause. If nothing else, she owed him an explanation. Maybe he would even understand.

Varian stared at her. "Cass, are you alright?" 

Cassandra instinctually went to respond that she was _fine_ , but she caught herself. She clearly wasn’t fine, and lying about how she was feeling wasn’t going to change anything. Instead, she opted for letting her silence speak for itself.

The two of them stood there for a moment in silence before a thought dawned on Varian. “You went into Corona yesterday.”

Something in Cassandra’s expression must have confirmed his suspicion, judging by the way color drained from his face. 

“Cass, what happened in Corona?” he whispered, afraid that he already knew the answer.

“Project Obsidian happened," Cassandra admitted through gritted teeth.

Varian's face managed to pale another shade. "W-What?"

"Project Obsidian,” she repeated, her voice pained. “They used it on me yesterday when I went to try to talk to Rapunzel, right in the middle of the courtyard." The words started tumbling out of Cassandra's mouth. She talked about her venture into Corona while in disguise, the posters for the play, the increased security, Rapunzel's involvement, the events of the courtyard.

"That could have killed you," Varian said with a haunted look on his face.

"You don't think I know that?" Cassandra snapped, her fury growing again. "They shot it with the intention of killing me!"

"B-But, h-how did they even know you were there?” Varian stammered. “I thought you said you were going in disguise."

"The cloak got ripped off," Cassandra replied quietly, choosing to leave out Zhan Tiri's involvement. "They waited until I stood down to talk to Rapunzel, and then they shot me in the back. They trapped me in amber. I had to use the decay incantation to get out." Memories of being encased in amber flashed through her mind, and she thought about her use of the decay incantation. She remembered how strange the magic had felt, the cold fury that pushed her to keep using it long after the amber had melted, how good it felt to turn the tables like that.

Varian looked like he was going to be sick at the mention of the amber. He sat himself down on the chair beside his lab bench, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "I, uh, wow, th-that's a lot. A-Are you okay? Physically, I mean. Heh. Clearly you're not okay on any other front."

Cassandra sat down on the couch across from him with a sigh, crossing her arms against her chest defensively. "Yeah. It hurt when I was trapped inside it, but the pain stopped once I broke free.”

"That's something at least," Varian sighed. He sat there in silence for a moment, processing. "I can’t believe they actually used it. I-I don't even know what else to say."

"You and me both, kid," Cassandra sighed bitterly, clutching the stone in her hand a little tighter. 

“At least this will all be over in a few days,” Varian said, searching for a bright side. “We’ll figure out what to do about Corona. _I promise._ I will fight like hell to make sure that you get the same chance at redemption that I got, and I know that Rapunzel will too. But for now we have to figure out our plan for the eclipse. We have the stuff to build the portal, and while I’m not sure _where_ we should build it, we can decide. We could even start now-”

"No.” Cassandra’s voice was firm and resolute. Varian was taken aback. 

"I-I'm sorry, what?"

“I said no. We’re not building that portal.” Cassandra said with a tone of finality.

“You can’t be serious,” Varian said, incredulous. “Cass, the eclipse is three days away. We’re running out of time, we _have_ to start planning now.”

“I don’t care,” Cass responded obstinately. “I’m done trying to stop Zhan Tiri.”

“So what, you’re going to help her instead?” Varian fired back, gesturing to where she held the stone in her hand. “Cass, you don’t want to do this.”

“Yes I do. Corona tried to _kill_ me, Varian,” she snapped. “I dropped _everything_ to protect Corona, and that was their response. So if Zhan Tiri wants to make them pay for doing the same to her, why should I stand in her way?”

"Why should you stand in her way? Oh, well, I don’t know, maybe _the fact that she wants to burn the kingdom and everything in it to the ground._ "

Varian’s outburst made Cassandra hesitate. Noticing Cassandra’s hesitation, he continued.

"Look. Cassandra, you're angry. Believe me, I get it; I know what it's like. But you are making a mistake."

“Oh yeah? You know what it’s like? What makes you so sure you know how I’m _feeling_?” Cassandra sneered.

“You don’t think I know how you’re feeling?” Varian snapped, his expression hardening into a cold glare. Cass flinched at his tone. "You don't think Corona has ever cast me aside and turned its back on me? Because if I remember correctly, you were the one who led the strike against me, Cassandra." The expression on his face was an echo of the one she saw during the Battle of Old Corona, and Cassandra was reminded that Varian wasn’t just any teenager. This was a kid who had lost everything, endured incredible hardships, and somehow emerged on the other side of the dark. 

“So yes, I know a thing or two about what you’re feeling; the pain, and anger, and agony, and fear, and hatred,” Varian continued with a haunted look in his eyes. “Those were the same things I felt when Corona turned its back on me. And I know that making Corona pay for what they’ve done feels like the only way to get those feelings to go away, but believe me when I say that it won’t. I wanted everyone to pay for casting me aside after what happened to my father, and I did some terrible things because of it. I wanted them to feel the same pain and agony that I felt, but that didn’t help anyone. I thought giving into hatred would make me feel better, but it only made everything so much worse.”

The two of them stared at one another in silence for a moment, Varian reflecting on his past with a pained expression as Cassandra processed what he had shared. Varian’s words weighed heavily on her and cast some doubt on her resolve.

Varian looked up at Cassandra with an intense, pleading look. “I thought I had nothing left to lose, but I was wrong. I had to learn the hard way that vengeance won’t solve anything. Please Cass, trust me. Becoming the villain isn’t the answer.”

_Villain?_

The accusation struck a nerve.

"Is that what you think I am?" Cass snapped, her temper flaring. “Despite what Corona seems to think of me, I am _not_ the villain here. Everything I have done was to protect Corona, and this is the thanks I got. The worst part is that all of this isn’t anything new. My entire life I have worked tirelessly to prove myself, and every single time I have been ignored and cast aside. No more. If they want to call me a monster and cast me aside again, fine by me. They can live with the consequences of that decision.”

“Cass-”

“No, Varian,” Cassandra cut off. “You can’t talk me down from this. We are _not_ the same.”

“Of course we are! Why do you think I did everything I did?” Varian sputtered. “ _I was just like you_ ; I had something to prove to the world. All I ever wanted to do was make my father proud, to impress him, and you, and everyone else. I needed to prove to everyone that I was more than just some kid who makes a mess of things. And then my father got encased in amber, and everyone turned their back on me, and the only way I could prove myself was not by making everyone proud, but by doing anything I could to make sure I would be heard, no matter the cost or who paid the price.

“But that wasn’t the answer. Things only changed after I started to realize that the only person I had anything to prove to was myself. I didn’t want to live like that anymore, so I had to make the difficult choice of letting go of my fear, and pain, and anger, and decide to do what I believed was right. When I decided to set things right and fix my mistakes, it wasn’t about Corona; it was about me; about doing what _I_ believed was right, and about proving to _myself_ what kind of person I am. And I’m so glad I did, because after that everything seemed to fall into place.”

Varian paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “My point is, you have every right to be angry about what they did, but please, don’t make the same mistakes that I did. Stopping Zhan Tiri from destroying the kingdom shouldn’t be about proving yourself to Corona. You’ve shown time and time again just how strong and incredible you really are, and you have _nothing_ to prove to them. Do this not because you have something to prove to Corona, but because you have something to prove to yourself.”

As Cassandra wrestled with his words and the conflicting emotions within her, Varian reached out and grabbed her hand, forcing her to look him in the eye.

“You have a choice to make. You can choose the path of pain and hatred, but that path will only lead to more pain. Or you can choose to let go of your vengeance and do what you know is right. Only you get to decide what kind of person you are.”

In that moment, anger won out. Cassandra pulled back her arm, swatting Varian’s hand away. 

"I've made my choice,” she responded coldly.

"I don't think you have," Varian countered, not backing down. "I think your mind is clouded with pain and anger, and it's easier to give into that. Don't make my mistakes. You've worked too hard, and for too long to give up now." 

"This isn't giving up," Cassandra defended.

"Oh, are you sure about that? Because from where I'm standing, that's sure what it sounds like," Varian snapped. Furious, Cassandra started storming off towards the door, not wanting to hear anything else Varian had to say. 

"Fine then!” Varian shouted from behind her as she paused in front of the door. “If you’re so sure that you want to give up and run back to Zhan Tiri with that stone, then go ahead. I'll do this on my own. But I think we both know that I won’t have to. You know where to find me when you make the right choice." 

"Don't count on it, kid," Cass warned before slamming the door shut. She stormed off in the direction of the tower, brimming with anger. As she walked through the woods, she fought hard to brush Varian’s words to the side. The alchemist had gotten under her skin, and it was easier to double down on her anger than to give anymore consideration to his words. Cassandra had made a decision; now wasn’t the time to be plagued with doubts.

Cassandra returned to the tower, practically radiating with rage. Zhan Tiri raised an eyebrow when she noticed Cassandra’s scowl, prompting her to speak. 

“Here’s the stone,” Cassandra said sharply, throwing the stone at Zhan Tiri. The sorceress caught the stone with an amused look on her face.

“I see you went to visit the alchemist,” she remarked with her ever-present smirk. “Will he be involving himself with our plan for the eclipse?”

“No,” Cassandra answered sharply. “He’s done his part. We don’t need him for the day of the eclipse.”

Zhan Tiri seemed interested by this new development, but she didn’t press. “Very well then. In that case, I think it’s time we finalize our plans.”

The mention of plans captured Cassandra’s attention. Broken out of her thoughts, she finally noticed that Zhan Tiri was pouring over their collection of documents, laid neatly out over the black stone table. Cass recognized them as the research that they had collected on the Sundrop and the eclipse. It looked like it was time to enter the final phase of Zhan Tiri’s plan.

“Alright,” Cassandra commented as her resolve recrystallized. “Where do we start?”


	17. The Eleventh Hour

The next two days passed by in a blur of planning, training, and preparing for the day of the eclipse. During that time Cassandra's fiery feelings of anger had cooled considerably, leaving her mind cold and sharp as a blade as she worked alongside Zhan Tiri. Cassandra threw herself completely into the act of developing a viable plan, welcoming the challenge it presented as well as the much needed distraction from her tumultuous thoughts.

In the moments when her mind wasn't fully occupied with planning, Cassandra found it difficult to ignore the tiny shred of doubt clawing at the back of her mind. Not for the first time, Varian’s words echoed in her mind.

_"I thought I had nothing left to lose, but I was wrong. I had to learn the hard way that vengeance won't solve anything."_

_"Becoming the villain isn't the answer."_

_"Do this not because you have something to prove to Corona, but because you have something to prove to yourself."_

_"Only you get to decide what kind of person you are."_

Cassandra grit her teeth as she mulled over his words. As much as Varian claimed to understand what Cassandra was going through, he really didn't. Varian's worldview was clear cut black and white, so while he certainly knew a thing or two about what it was like to go down a dark path, he couldn't see the shades of grey that painted the reality of Cassandra's situation.

In Varian's mind, there were only two paths; the "right" path where Cassandra stopped Zhan Tiri, and the "wrong" path where she enabled the sorceress's plan. And despite what Varian believed, those two paths were a bit more complex than just "right" and "wrong".

Specifically, Varian didn't understand that doing the "right" thing involved Cassandra putting herself on the line and risking everything she had; unlike Varian thought, Cassandra still had more to lose. True, she had given up nearly everything to pursue this goal, but she had also gained some things in return. Most notably, she had gained the Moonstone and a new independence, giving Cassandra a sense of power and freedom that she never had experienced before.

Cassandra never realized how powerless she had been until she had broken free of the chains that tied her to Corona. All of her life, the figurative ground she had stood upon was never stable. Her life and position in Corona was at the mercy of those around her; the king and queen, her father, even Rapunzel. They all held power over her, and if she stepped even one toe out of line, she risked being ripped away from her life and sent to a convent. Even when she fell in line with what was expected of her, she had been pigeon-holed into the role of a servant and lady-in-waiting, her ambition of becoming a member of the royal guard routinely disregarded. Much to Cassandra's chagrin, she was in no position to argue with any of it; she held no power, and therefore had no say in the matter.

But now Cassandra _finally_ possessed some semblance of power, some control over her life and her situation, and it was _liberating_. Now that she had agency over her own life, she was reluctant to give it up. Zhan Tiri had warned her time and time again that Corona wanted to strip Cassandra of her newfound power, and after everything that had transpired, Cassandra was inclined to believe her. Corona had kept her powerless for most of her life, and Cassandra feared if given the chance, they would render her powerless again.

Was it so wrong of her to not want to risk what little she had gained? Did she really want to gamble her _life_ on the small chance her kingdom would welcome her back with open arms, no strings attached?

That wasn't even taking into consideration another thing Cassandra stood to lose; Zhan Tiri herself. As loathe as Cassandra was to admit it to anyone else, she couldn't deny that the sorceress had grown on her. Although Cassandra had initially set out with the intention of destroying Zhan Tiri, she never could have anticipated how their dynamic would evolve over time. She certainly never expected the sorceress to become...whatever Zhan Tiri was to her now. A mentor, of sorts. Maybe even a friend.

Cassandra didn't _want_ to stop Zhan Tiri; at least, not if it meant imprisoning her in another realm. Zhan Tiri wasn't the evil demon the stories made her out to be, Cass was sure of it. Zhan Tiri was a woman who was betrayed by her closest companion, imprisoned within the walls of Corona and then in a horrible void, all for the "crime" of power and ambition. After two thousand years of imprisonment, Cassandra couldn't fault the sorceress for wanting to bring Corona to its knees, to have _someone_ answer for the way she had been treated.

With all of that in mind, Cass’s choice of the "wrong" path didn't feel so wrong after all.

But of everything Varian said in their last conversation, there was one particular remark that stoked her ire the most:

_"Don't make my mistakes. You've worked too hard, and for too long, to give up now."_

Cassandra was furious that Varian would dare imply that she had given up. Cass had always prided herself on her ability to see things through to the end. It didn't matter how difficult the task was; Cassandra was tough, stubborn, and resourceful, and she always persevered. _She wasn't giving up_. This had nothing to do with cowardice or some sort of inability to complete the task; this was a _choice,_ a matter of principle.

Why would she put herself on the line for a kingdom that actively sought to destroy her? Especially if it came at the cost of someone who she had begrudgingly began to think of as a friend, someone who had also been betrayed and was fighting back. Why would she betray the person who built her up for the kingdom that was so desperate to tear her down?

The answer was simple; she wouldn't. She had made up her mind. Once again, she crushed that seed of doubt and returned to her work.

Cassandra and Zhan Tiri worked late into the night, falling into a comfortable rhythm as they ironed out the details of their plan to acquire the Sundrop. Throughout the process, Cassandra was struck by the open manner in which Zhan Tiri spoke with her. There were no cryptic statements and no sense of a hidden agenda. For the first time, Cassandra felt as if they were standing on level ground. Though it surprised her, it felt nice to be trusted for once and have her thoughts and strategic skills taken into consideration, _valued_.

Before long, all of the details of the plan and their contingencies were hammered out and polished. After reviewing the plan one final time, Zhan Tiri looked across the obsidian table at Cassandra and smirked.

"I believe we are finished," Zhan Tiri remarked with a gleeful look in her eye.

"That we are," Cassandra responded flatly, staring out across the table with a frown. "I guess all that's left to do now is wait."

It always came back to waiting, didn't it?

"Excellent." Zhan Tiri toyed with the synthetic stone in her hand, a wolfish grin on her face as she examined its smooth surface. "I have waited quite some time for this moment. Finally, in less than two days time, my quest for the Sundrop will be over, and the kingdom of Corona will be nothing but ash. It's a shame that Demanitus won't be able to see me fulfill my promise to him. I suppose the survivors will have to bear witness in his stead."

_Survivors._ Cassandra felt a chill down her spine.

Zhan Tiri looked up from the stone to smirk at her. "You've done well, Cassandra. Now that we have finished, I suggest you take some time to do whatever it is you need to prepare yourself. I'm going to take some time to complete some last minute preparations of my own."

"Alright," Cassandra responded, unable to shake the sense of uneasiness that has washed over her. She did her best to ignore it. "In that case, we should regroup by afternoon."

"Agreed," Zhan Tiri chimed lightly as she headed toward the staircase. "That should leave us with plenty of time."

With that Zhan Tiri disappeared out of sight, leaving Cassandra alone with her thoughts. Cassandra slowly made her way over to the balcony, where she sat down and gazed out over the forest under the starlit sky. Despite her best effort to ignore them, Zhan Tiri's words continued to echo in her mind.

_...the kingdom of Corona will be nothing but ash..._

_...the survivors will have to bear witness..._

The ultimate goal of the plan she had discussed with Zhan Tiri was to retrieve the Sundrop, and in all honesty, Cassandra hadn't considered what would follow after Zhan Tiri had gotten a hold of its magic. Not really, anyway. Sure, she knew that the ultimate goal was vengeance against Corona, but in her mind "vengeance" wasn't a well defined idea. Caught up in the whirlwind of her emotions, Cassandra had lost sight of the fact that there were lives at stake. With the reminder, the seed of doubt was replanted in her mind.

" _Hoot hoot._ " Cassandra turned her head sharply towards the sound and found Owl perched at the edge of the balcony. He was looking at her with a piercing, judgmental stare.

"Don't give me that look," Cass grumbled, looking every bit as miserable as she felt. The last thing she wanted to do was to defend her decision, especially when doubt was again beginning to claw at her

Owl's piercing gaze only intensified, and he hooted again accusingly. Cassandra bristled at the sound.

"You know I've made my choice," Cassandra said defensively. Owl tilted his head, leveling her with a look that said he didn't believe her for a moment. Cassandra deflated with a sigh. "Fine. Maybe I haven't. But after everything that's happened, why should I be the one to stop her?"

Owl nodded in the direction of the ground below the tower, and Cassandra looked down to see Zhan Tiri standing in the clearing. The sorceress appeared to begin experimenting with the limits of her magic, preparing for the eclipse. There were flashes of purple light as she trained with her powers, illuminating the space around her with a striking shade of violet. Even from her spot on the top of the tower, Cassandra could feel the temperature suddenly plummet. Watching Zhan Tiri practice below, Cassandra was once again struck by how powerful Zhan Tiri was.

Cassandra found herself wondering; if Zhan Tiri was this lethal with the magic she already possessed, what would she be capable of with the Sundrop?

Unwelcome images flooded into her mind, memories of the nightmare she experienced after touching the cursed orb in the Spire. Only this time, the blanket of snow that covered Corona was replaced by a blanket of ash. Once again Cassandra could see the crowd in front of her, faces missing, lives lost, destruction all around them, the accusatory looks that screamed that this was all Cassandra's fault-

With a shaky breath Cassandra banished those images from her mind, but the damage was done.

Owl looked at her again, his expression serious as if saying _"is this really what you want?"_

"No," Cassandra whispered, her resolve crumbling. "This isn't what I want."

While there was a part of Cassandra that ached to let Corona reap what it had sown, to give into her anger and ambition and come out on top, there was a larger part that reminded her that at her core she was a warrior, _a protector_. How could she call herself that if she let this happen knowing there were lives at stake? If Zhan Tiri had her way, Cassandra knew that she shouldered some of the blame.

And as much as she hated to admit it, Varian was right about one thing, at least. This was about something more than Cassandra and her innate need to prove herself; this was about the security of a whole kingdom, the safety of innocent people that had no part in any of this.

So as angry as she was with Corona for what they had done, and as reluctant as she was to step in Zhan Tiri’s way, Cassandra knew that she couldn’t allow this to happen. Corona's treatment of her was terrible, and Cassandra doubted that it was something she would ever be able to forgive, but she couldn't justify standing by and doing nothing when she was in a position to save lives.

Cassandra grit her teeth. Despite her hesitancy, it looked like she was going to have to switch back to her original plan after all.

Somehow, she had to put a stop to Zhan Tiri before the eclipse. But that didn't mean Cassandra would let go of her anger, or forget the way that she had been treated. She promised herself that something was going to change after all of this, but in the interest of time, she would set that aside. For now.

As she stared out over the horizon, the sky softly began to brighten as the sunrise drew near. With a start, Cassandra realized in horror that today was the day before the eclipse.

She was running out of time.

_"Fuck."_

* * *

It was well into the morning when Cassandra settled on a course of action, slipping out of the tower while Zhan Tiri was still otherwise preoccupied. After double checking that Zhan Tiri had paid her no mind, Cassandra took off stealthily in the direction of Old Corona to look for Varian.

_"I'll do this on my own,"_ Varian had spat. _"But I think we both know that I won’t have to. You know where to find me when you make the right choice."_

It looked like Varian had been right, after all. He guessed correctly that she would change her mind again, even when Cassandra was certain she wouldn't. All she could do now was hope that Varian had been able to make progress on his own and that Cassandra wasn't too late to be of help...especially considering that it was now the day before the eclipse. Cassandra wanted to kick herself for wasting all of that time, but what was done was done. She couldn't get the time back, so she was back at square one.

Cassandra wanted to scream in frustration. There was no way this could possibly end well. She could only envision two scenarios; one where Zhan Tiri triumphed and Corona and its inhabitants were reduced to dust, and one where Cassandra and Varian somehow succeeded in re-imprisoning Zhan Tiri in that other realm. Neither of those options sat well with Cassandra, but what choice did she have? There had to be another way, another option that she hasn’t seen. She racked her brain for something, _anything_ , as she ran towards Old Corona.

The first option that occurred to Cassandra was that she could try to talk Zhan Tiri down from this, but she doubted that would work. She had already tried once, unsuccessfully, and Zhan Tiri seemed hellbent on Corona’s ruin..

But there had to be another way, right? Maybe all Cassandra had to do was keep her from getting the Sundrop?

She immediately shot that idea down. It wouldn't work. Zhan Tiri was fully capable of destroying Corona even without the Sundrop. The Sundrop was just a bonus, a prize that she was after for her own sake and curiosity.

Cassandra continued to run through the possibilities in her head, and much to her frustration, she could not come up with a viable third option. It seemed that the choices were sending Zhan Tiri back to her otherworldly prison where her powers would be locked away, or watch as Zhan Tiri razed Corona to the ground...

and Cassandra had already decided she couldn't stand by and allow that to happen.

Before long, Cassandra found herself standing outside the front door to Varian's lab, anxiety tying her stomach into a knot. She rapped on the door, not keen to spend any more time exposed on the front step than absolutely necessary. Usually Varian was quick to respond, but she could hear no movement on the other side of the door.

"Varian, it's me," Cass said urgently, continuing to knock on the door. "Open up."

Despite her incessant knocking, there was no response and no sound of movement on the other side of the door. Cassandra turned to inspect her surroundings and noticed that there were a handful of people moving throughout the village. If Cassandra wanted her visit to go unnoticed, she needed to get inside, and quickly.

Experimentally, Cassandra tried turning the doorknob and was surprised to find the door unlocked. Without hesitation, she quickly slipped inside the lab.

"Varian?" Cassandra called out tentatively as she closed the door behind her. When she turned around and took in the state of the lab, she froze in place. The lab looked more chaotic and disorganized than Cassandra had ever seen it, with tools and supplies strewn about. Even more alarming was that there was no sign of Varian, or even Ruddiger. The sight reminded her of the time Varian had sent them to retrieve the graphtyc from his lab two years ago, back when he was on the run from Corona's guard.

Panic set in. _What had happened here?_ Where was Varian? Cassandra didn't know what to make of it.

She began to investigate the lab, searching for any clues that could help her piece together what had happened. As she walked around she noticed that the supplies Varian had collected from the Neserdnian market were gone, along with his research and the other items that he needed to build the portal. That was something, at least. It looked as if Varian had frantically collected everything he could before leaving his lab in a hurry.

But _why_? Was Varian running from someone? Had someone figured out that he was in league with Cassandra and sent the guards after him?

Or did Varian leave on his own terms, and was racing against the clock to enact his own plan? Maybe he had given up on waiting for Cassandra to change her mind and had left to stop Zhan Tiri by himself.

Cassandra paused as she walked by the lab bench where she had often seen Varian record notes on his work. While the bench was in disarray, much like the rest of the lab, she noticed that there was a space that was almost entirely cleared out. In the middle of that space sat a folded piece of parchment, and upon closer inspection she noticed her name scrawled on the top of it in Varian's handwriting.

She snatched up the paper, finding a letter addressed to her from Varian. The handwriting was uncharacteristically messy, as if he were in a hurry when he wrote it.

_Cassandra -_

_If you’re reading this letter, that means you’re back on board! I don’t know when you’ll read this, but you should know that I haven’t given up on our plan. I knew that you would come around, but I still had to act under the possibility that you wouldn’t until it was too late._

_Long story short, Rapunzel and Eugene paid me a visit right after you left, so I’m taking this opportunity to go back to Corona with them. I figure since Zhan Tiri will be after Rapunzel the day of the eclipse, that I’ll just set everything up in the castle and wait for Zhan Tiri to find her there._

_I know that we’re cutting it close, but it’s our best option. If you can, find me before the eclipse so we can figure this out._

_-V_

"The kid is determined, that's for sure," Cass muttered dryly to herself, sagging in relief with the knowledge that Varian was alright and that he hadn’t given up on their plan, or her, for that matter. While Cassandra thought that Varian’s unwavering faith in her was misplaced, she was grateful for it. It was nice to have someone have her back, someone who believed in her.

She stood there for a long moment mulling over the implications of the letter. Varian would be waiting at the castle alongside Rapunzel, which was good. He was right that they would be cutting it close, but the fact that he would be prepared at the castle made things easier for Cassandra. The plan she had devised with Zhan Tiri already involved cornering Rapunzel there which meant all Cassandra had to do was facilitate Zhan Tiri walking into Varian’s trap.

Although, to Zhan Tiri’s credit, that would not be a simple task. Zhan Tiri was no fool; she would figure out very quickly that something was amiss, and she would improvise accordingly. Which meant if his plan had any chance of success, Varian was going to need Cassandra’s intervention.

Finding Varian beforehand also shouldn’t prove to be too much of a challenge. Cassandra and Zhan Tiri planned on heading to Corona that night. When they split up as planned before the eclipse, Cassandra would take the time to seek out Varian and find out exactly what his plan entailed.

Cassandra also had to wonder, if Varian was waiting with Rapunzel, how much had he told her? Certainly he had warned her that _something_ was coming (finishing the job she never got the chance to complete, Cassandra thought bitterly).

Had he told Rapunzel about Zhan Tiri? About everything Cassandra had been up to this year? Cassandra wasn't sure how she felt about that possibility. Not that it mattered. For the time being, it was out of her hands. She had more pressing issues to worry about at the moment.

With no other reason to stay, Cassandra stealthily left Varian's lab and began heading in the direction of the tower. As she swiftly moved through the forest, she was interrupted by the sound of Owl calling out to her. Pausing, she looked up to see Owl perched on a nearby branch. Once he had captured Cassandra’s attention, he took off, leading her away from the tower. It was clear that Owl wanted her to follow him. With a frown she obliged him, wondering where he was leading her.

She didn’t have to wait long to find out. Owl led her to forest glen not too far off from the tower, and it was immediately obvious why Owl brought her here. Walking slowly down the path, completely unaware of Cassandra’s presence, was her father. The Captain of the Guard was alone and in uniform, and was clearly in search of something, or more likely, _someone_.

Cassandra’s blood boiled at the sight of him, her anger over what had happened not forgotten. Her emotions got the better of her, and before she could even think about what she was doing, she jumped out onto the path and drew her shadowblade in warning. The Captain startled at the sight of her, caught completely off guard.

“What are you doing here?” she snarled. To her surprise, the Captain removed his hands from the hilt of his sword and lifted them in surrender.

“I’ve been trying to find you,” the Captain sputtered, taking a careful step backwards.

Cassandra’s face twisted into a sneer. “Why, so you can finish off the job?”

“What?! No, I could never,” the Captain shot back, flinching at the accusation. By the way his face paled, Cassandra was inclined to believe him. “It’s just the opposite. I needed to know if you were alright.”

_Was he serious?_

“What the hell do you think?” Cass spat, incredulous. “No! I’m not alright! Your men tried to kill me! For all I know, you could have shot Project Obsidian yourself.”

It was a low blow, and she knew it. Judging by the way her father’s expression crumpled, she may as well have struck him. The sight almost made her regret her choice of words. _Almost_. She did, however, sheathe her shadowblade and cross her arms against her chest, waiting for his response.

“For the record, it wasn’t me, but that…that’s fair, I suppose,” he relented, wincing. “Cassandra, I owe you an apology. I didn’t-”

“Ohoho, you owe me a bit more than that, but whatever. I don’t have time for this conversation,” Cassandra snapped, her tone icy. She turned to storm off back to the tower.

“Cassandra, wait!” her father called out after her. She didn’t stop. “Please.” The vulnerability in her father’s voice was what finally made her hesitate. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face the Captain, finding his expression uncharacteristically open and pleading. “Just…tell me one thing. What are you planning?”

Something about her father’s expression and behavior compelled Cassandra to respond honestly. “Would you even believe me if I said I was trying to protect Corona?”

The Captain responded without hesitation. “Yes, I would.”

To say Cass was baffled by the immediate display of faith would be an understatement. After her last encounter with her father and everything that had transpired with Corona, she had not anticipated this turn in conversation.

“Since when?” she demanded.

The Captain sighed in relief, glad that Cassandra was finally willing to listen to what he had to say.

“Ever since I last saw you a few months ago, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what the hell had happened to you. While I suspected you had your reasons for everything you did, I couldn’t help but feel as if I had failed you somehow. I swore that I would do whatever it takes to do right by you and bring you home.

But that became more difficult than I anticipated. After your return to Corona, the King and a few others were convinced that the Moonstone had driven you insane and that you were a threat to the kingdom. The King ordered greater security measures, and I had no choice but to follow his orders and implement them. As Captain of the Guard I have a duty to protect Corona, but as your father I also have a duty to protect you. I couldn’t stand up to the King directly out of fear he would temporarily relieve me of my command due to my ‘conflict of interest’, and I was afraid of what could happen to you if someone else was put in my position. At least if I was the one still in charge, I would be able to defend and protect you from the worst of it.”

Suddenly his expression crumpled. “But I was wrong. It wasn’t until the moment I saw one of my own men shoot that damned thing that I realized just how much I had failed you. Seeing you…trapped inside…not knowing if you had survived-” the Captain’s voice hitched, “…well, let’s just say that image will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

The Captain paused for a moment to collect himself, and Cassandra was stunned into silence. Much like her, the Captain normally didn’t do the whole “talk-about-your-feelings thing”, so this rare emotional display from her father was both unexpected and disarming. Unsure of how to respond, she waited for him to continue speaking again.

“I should have done more to stand up to the King, but I can’t go back and change the past. But what I can do now is listen to what you have to say. And if you say that you’re trying to protect Corona, then I believe you.” He let that statement hang in the air for a moment before adding, “Also, that Varian kid confirmed my suspicions that there was more to the story. He swore that you could be trusted and, well, I’m inclined to believe him.”

That was news to Cass. “You spoke with Varian?”

The Captain nodded curtly. “I did. After the…erm… _courtyard incident_ , I went with the Princess and Fitzherbert to pay the kid a visit in Old Corona.”

“What? Why?”

The Captain hesitated before answering. “After everything that happened during the Solstice Festival, the Princess was only allowed to leave the castle on the condition of having a security detail. Fitzherbert had…some questions for Varian regarding something that he saw during the festival, so the Princess asked me if I could be the one to accompany them.”

“What kind of questions?” Cassandra asked suspiciously, not liking the turn this conversation was taking. Her father’s vagueness was bothering her.

Another hesitation, as if the Captain was preparing to choose his words carefully, “I want to preface this by saying that the person who ripped off your disguise in the courtyard wasn’t Fitzherbert, it was-”

“-an impostor,” Cassandra finished. The Captain blinked at her in surprise. “Yeah, I know.”

“You know?” he asked, incredulous.

“What does any of this have to do with Varian?” Cassandra asked irritably.

“The… _impostor_ turned out to be a purple-haired woman who approached Fitzherbert shortly after leaving the courtyard.”

Cassandra stiffened at the information. _Zhan Tiri._ Why would she purposefully seek out Eugene after the Project Obsidian debacle? Almost everything the sorceress did was calculated, so what the hell was she thinking?

The Captain paused before continuing, carefully monitoring Cassandra’s reaction. “Fitzherbert recognized her as a… _friend_ of Varian’s.”

Then it clicked; Zhan Tiri took the opportunity to try to pit Corona against Varian as well. Clearly it didn’t work, considering Varian had gone back to Corona with Rapunzel to-

_Oh no._

“How much did Varian tell you?” Cassandra asked the Captain bluntly.

There was a moment of hesitation. “Enough.”

Cassandra grimaced. “He told you everything, didn’t he? And about Zhan Tiri?” The look on the Captain’s face was all the confirmation she needed.

So Varian _did_ fill them in on everything after all, not just Rapunzel, but Eugene and the Captain as well. For a brief moment Cassandra was upset, but realized that she really couldn’t be; she was the reason that Varian was in this situation in the first place.

“We didn’t really give him much of a choice,” the Captain added in Varian’s defense.

“Yeah, I guess neither did I,” Cassandra sighed. She understood why Varian had shared everything with them, so she couldn’t hold it against him. She probably would have done the same thing if their positions had been flipped.

A thought suddenly occurred to her. “Wait, if you spoke with Varian, then he must have told you that I’d changed my mind,” Cassandra said evenly. The Captain nodded. “Then why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because I’m trusting you. So is the Princess, and the kid, and hell, even Fitzherbert.”

Those words struck Cassandra like a slap across the face. All Cassandra had ever wanted was to be trusted, but she didn’t want it like this. They weren’t trusting her because they had believed in her all along; they were only choosing to trust her now because Varian had told them to trust her, and because they felt guilty and wanted to make up for what had happened.

“Where was all this _trust_ before?” she asked coldly.

“Listen,” the Captain continued, “I know I could have done things better before, but I want to make them right now. I should’ve had more faith in you.”

Cassandra laughed in disbelief. “What makes you think that after everything that’s happened, that I won’t stand by and watch Zhan Tiri burn Corona to the ground?”

“Because I know you, Cassandra. All you’ve ever wanted is to be a guard and protect people, so I know you won’t stand by and let innocent people get hurt.”

Cassandra hated that he was right. There was a part of her screaming that Corona didn’t deserve her protection, and that it shouldn’t have taken almost dying for the people she cared about most to _finally_ put their trust in her. But once again, she was going to have to act despite her anger. She would play nice, and maybe he could provide her with some of the answers she was looking for.

“Fine,” Cassandra said curtly. “I just read a letter that Varian left behind for me, and I have some questions. If you’re actually serious about trusting me, then maybe you can answer them.” The Captain nodded, looking relieved. “How much do you know about Varian’s plan?”

“Not much,” the Captain admitted. “He brought back some stuff from his lab to build some type of contraption in the castle, but I don’t know any of the specifics.”

“Alright,” Cass responded with a frown. She was hoping to learn more about what Varian had planned, but it looked like she would have to get those answers from Varian himself. However, there was still some more helpful information her father could provide. “Who else knows about the eclipse?”

“Maybe Strongbow knows, but otherwise, no one else,” he answered, the response surprising Cassandra. “The Princess has taken charge of this matter and has asked me to keep it from the King. She wants to keep the whole thing as quiet as possible and handle it herself.”

“Seriously?” Cassandra asked, although she didn’t know why she was surprised. It was very much like Rapunzel to run headlong into a dangerous situation and handle it on her own terms.

The Captain grimaced. “She’s afraid that intervention from her father, or anyone else for that matter, could complicate things. Varian shares the same concerns.” That was a fair point.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with them on this one. Keeping it quiet will certainly make my job easier. I’m just surprised that you’re going along with this,” Cassandra remarked with a frown. It was unlike her father to keep something like this from King Frederic.

“You and me both,” he grumbled with an uncomfortable grimace, and Cassandra suppressed an amused smile at his displeased tone. For a moment, she could almost pretend that they were standing in comfortable silence under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, as she took note of the time of day, she was reminded that these were not normal circumstances; it was early in the afternoon, which meant she was supposed to regroup with Zhan Tiri shortly. It was time for this conversation to end, and to Cassandra’s surprise, she was finding herself reluctant to leave.

“I have to go. I’ve already been gone too long,” Cassandra said abruptly. “Just…if you see Varian, tell him that I’ll find him in the castle tomorrow before the eclipse.”

The Captain nodded gruffly, looking reluctant to see Cassandra go. “I’ll relay the message. And Cassandra, again I-”

“Don’t,” she cut him off, anticipating his next words. “Don’t apologize; what’s done is done. We can talk about it more when this is all over. Just promise that you’ll trust me tomorrow, no matter how bad things might look from the outside.”

“Alright, I think I can manage that,” he responded. “Just be careful.”

“You too,” Cassandra responded with a nod. With nothing left to say, Cassandra took off back towards the tower, leaving the Captain alone as he stood watching anxiously in the clearing.

* * *

The journey through the forest back to the tower did not provide Cassandra with nearly enough time to reflect on the encounter with her father. By the time she returned, Cassandra had made little progress in resolving the conflicting thoughts and emotions that were at war in her head. This day had been an emotional journey, and she was left with a distinct feeling of whiplash.

Everything about the conversation with her father left Cassandra feeling off balanced. As furious as she still was about everything that had transpired, she could recognize that her dad really was trying his best. Yes, Cassandra wished that he would have taken a stand sooner, but she acknowledged that even this was a huge step for him. He had never gone against the King’s wishes, but now he was willingly doing so for Cassandra’s sake. While Cassandra still had her grievances, she did appreciate that he was choosing to trust her now, even though part of her felt it was too little, too late.

Cassandra wished that she had some more time to sort out everything that was going on in her head. Unfortunately, she didn’t, and she suspected things were only going to get more complicated from here on out as they entered the endgame.

As she entered the room at the top of the tower, Cassandra was snapped out of her thoughts by the sight of Zhan Tiri’s uncharacteristically sudden movement. Zhan Tiri had been examining something in her hands, and upon noticing Cassandra’s return, she swiftly and smoothly slid the blue object into her bag before Cass could get a good look at it.

Cassandra frowned at the action. “What was that about?”

“Another part of my final preparations,” Zhan Tiri responded without missing a beat. “I am just about finished. I assume you’re prepared?”

_No_.

“More or less,” Cassandra replied.

“Very well. In that case, take a couple of hours to rest. Soon enough it will be time to put this plan of ours into action,” Zhan Tiri said with a smirk, looking eager to begin.

That last handful of hours passed by in the blink of an eye, and before long, the sun had set. It was time to begin the first phase of the plan; sneaking into the castle to gather intelligence.

With the moonless sky draping the landscape in shadow, the new moon provided Cassandra and Zhan Tiri with the perfect cover to sneak onto the island of Corona. From there, getting into the tunnels was almost laughably easy. Cassandra assumed that after everything, Corona would think to station some guards in the tunnels, or at the very least their entrances and exits. Apparently, they had not; the tunnels continued to be woefully unguarded. Cassandra found herself wondering if it was an oversight, or if her father had some part in it. Honestly, she would not be surprised if it was the former.

From the tunnels, getting into (and around) the castle was also remarkably simple. With Cassandra sticking to the shadows and Zhan Tiri relying on her shapeshifting abilities, they took the time to gather information. The more they could ascertain about the state of the castle, the smoother things would go in the morning when they moved into the next phase of their plan. Most importantly, they needed to be absolutely sure that Rapunzel was in the castle. The idea was that if Rapunzel wasn’t there, then they would need this allocated extra time to locate her before the eclipse started. Although, after speaking with the Captain, Cassandra now knew for certain that Rapunzel would be there.

After spending a few hours gathering what information they could, Zhan Tiri and Cassandra regrouped in the tunnels to discuss their findings. Overall, there were no major surprises; nearly everything was how they expected it to be. The state of the castle seemed to be business as usual, and as anticipated, Rapunzel was very much within the castle walls. The only unexpected thing of note was that the King and Queen were gone, apparently out of town for a couple of days for a trip. Not that it mattered; Zhan Tiri was only concerned with Rapunzel. The King and Queen ultimately were inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Their absence would have struck Cassandra as strange if she hadn’t run into her father earlier that day. It was likely that Rapunzel or the Captain made some excuse to convince them to leave Corona for a couple of days, a precautionary measure.

Although Cassandra had kept an eye out, she hadn’t seen any trace of Varian or the portal anywhere within the castle. Zhan Tiri hadn’t mentioned finding anything out of the ordinary, which brought Cassandra a sense of some relief. Everything was in place; all Cassandra and Zhan Tiri could do now was wait until morning to enact the next phase of the plan.

As they sat down in the tunnels and waited for morning to come, Cassandra found herself watching Zhan Tiri. For what felt like the millionth time, feelings of doubt came flooding in as Cassandra wrestled with second thoughts.

Cassandra knew what she had to do to prevent Corona’s destruction, but once again she found herself wondering: could she really do this to Zhan Tiri? Could Cassandra betray her and imprison her in that void again, knowing fully well what had happened in her past? Zhan Tiri had been betrayed before, and Cassandra sorely doubted she would take kindly to being betrayed again.

In all honesty, when the time came Cass wasn’t sure if she would be able to do what Demanitus had done. After all, it was his betrayal that had been the catalyst for this whole mess. If Demanitus had never tried to imprison Zhan Tiri and instead just let her be, then none of this would have happened. Cassandra idly wondered if imprisoning Zhan Tiri once again would only continue to fuel her quest for vengeance, and result in even more catastrophic consequences in the future. After all, Zhan Tiri had already managed to escape once; it was certainly possible that she would be able to do it again.

_There has to be another way-_

“It’s time,” Zhan Tiri said suddenly, interrupting her thoughts. She smiled slyly at Cassandra. “Are you prepared for the next phase of our plan?”

Cassandra nodded. She knew well what came next, it was time for the two of them to split up. The ultimate goal was to get Rapunzel alone somewhere in the castle where there would be no one around to interfere when the eclipse came. The less distractions there were while Zhan Tiri extracted the Sundrop’s magic from Rapunzel, the smoother the process would go. Cassandra’s job was to find Rapunzel and quietly isolate her, while Zhan Tiri would cause a diversion outside of the castle and attract the attention of the guards. After she lured the guards out of the castle and provided a distraction, Zhan Tiri would rejoin Cassandra in the castle, blocking everyone else from accessing whatever area they ended up in. From there, everything would easily fall into place.

“Give me your hands,” Zhan Tiri demanded suddenly.

Cassandra was caught off guard. “What? Why?”

Zhan Tiri rolled her eyes as she snatched Cassandra’s hands. “For the tracking spell, as we discussed.”

“Oh right,” Cassandra murmured. She had forgotten about that part; Zhan Tiri had suggested the use of a tracking spell for when they were split up. With the spell active, they would be able to know where the other was at all times. That way Zhan Tiri would know where to find Cassandra after she was done handling the guards, and Cassandra would know when Zhan Tiri was returning.

Zhan Tiri quietly recited the words to an incantation as she stood there grasping Cassandra’s hands, and after a moment Cassandra found that she had become very aware of Zhan Tiri’s presence; the spell had worked. Satisfied, Zhan Tiri smirked and let go of Cassandra’s hands.

“Alright, I suppose we are ready then. Best of luck, my dear. I will see you soon enough,” Zhan Tiri purred, turning to head deeper into the tunnels.

“Yeah, I’ll see you soon,” Cassandra responded quietly. With that Zhan Tiri flashed her one last grin before disappearing into the darkness of the tunnels.

Finally alone, Cassandra took a deep breath and steeled herself. There was no turning back now; it was time to move forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof i didn't mean to take this long to update, but thanks for being patient with me! i had to take some time to really work on the rough draft for the end of the fic, and it's looking like there's going to be 20 chapters total and an epilogue. now that it's worked out, updates from now until the end should come out every two weeks.
> 
> as always, thanks for all of the kudos and comments, they really brighten my day :)


	18. Eclipsed

Slipping into one of the castle’s many hidden rooms from the tunnels proved to be a simple enough task. When Cassandra peered out of the darkened room and saw the halls of the castle bustling with their usual activity, it was clear that her biggest challenge in searching for Rapunzel would be avoiding detection. Now that she no longer possessed the shapeshifting cloak, Cassandra’s movements through the castle were limited to its darkened corners and abandoned corridors. Fortunately, Cassandra had experience on her side; years of living and working in the castle meant that she was intimately familiar with every nook and cranny, and she knew how to sneak through the castle’s corridors without attracting attention to herself.

As Cassandra moved silently and steadily through the castle, she found it difficult to ignore the effects of the tracking spell Zhan Tiri had placed between them. There was a soft tug on her subconscious that pointed her in the direction of Zhan Tiri’s presence, and she could feel the sorceress move farther out into the kingdom through the tunnels. The sensation was unnerving, but at least the spell was serving its purpose.

Thankfully, it did not take Cass long to locate Rapunzel. She found the princess in the throne room deeply entrenched in a conversation with the Captain, Nigel, and to Cassandra’s surprise, King Edmund. From her position on the opposite end of the room she could not clearly make out the conversation, but she got the impression it was a tense discussion. Cassandra crept closer along the edge of the room, crouching low to remain hidden behind the large planters that decorated the space. Not that stealth mattered much at the moment; they were too engrossed in their discussion to notice anything else. Once she was close enough to hear, Cassandra lowered herself to the ground and carefully peered around the corner of the jardiniere.

She thought she had made it without attracting attention, but as she snuck a glance around the corner of the jardiniere, she was surprised to find her father’s equally surprised eyes staring back at her. To Cassandra’s relief, he kept quiet and did not further acknowledge her presence. It looked as if he trusted her after all. He turned back towards King Edmund.

“-have spoken at length about how dangerous the Moonstone is, _multiple times._ Cassandra used its power to attack citizens of this kingdom not even three days ago. So forgive me if I’m having trouble understanding why now, of all times, your parents have abruptly left on an unplanned ‘trip’, and why you have immediately used your power as acting queen to remove the extra security measures they had left in place to protect you and this kingdom,” Edmund said, his voice level.

“With all due respect, King Edmund, this is not your kingdom,” Rapunzel replied evenly, the smile never falling from her face.

“I am aware of that fact, and I mean no disrespect. But even your advisers cannot fathom the decisions you are making,” Edmund continued with a serious expression, gesturing to Nigel beside him. “I cannot tell you how to rule in your parents’ absence, but I can advise you to take this threat seriously.”

“Alright. In that case, I will be sure to take your concerns under advisement,” Rapunzel remarked, and Cassandra had to fight the urge to snort at the comment.

King Edmund heaved a heavy sigh, sensing that he was not making any headway with the Princess. “I certainly hope you will.” He turned to leave through the side entrance, opposite to Cassandra’s position, but paused. “I don’t know what the meaning of all of this is, but I sincerely hope that you know what you are doing, Princess.” With that he took off, leaving the others behind.

Rapunzel’s expression faltered for only a moment, but her bright smile and the look of determination in her eye quickly bounced back. The three of them remained for a while longer, speaking briefly about the tense conversation with Edmund before the subject changed to more regular castle affairs.

Just as Cassandra was wondering how much longer their exchange would take, Stan burst into the room, his eyes wide with alarm. “Captain, sir! There have been multiple reports saying that Cassandra has been sighted on the island. She’s attacking Corona.”

“What?” the Captain exclaimed, understandably surprised by the declaration. His eyes instinctively turned toward Cassandra, who was very much still hiding in the room.

Cassandra grit her teeth, but did not share her father’s surprise. She knew exactly what Zhan Tiri’s idea of “distraction” entailed; the shapeshifter was putting her abilities to good use. Now that Cass thought to pay attention to the strange tug on her subconscious, she could feel that Zhan Tiri had left the tunnels and was in fact moving about the kingdom. Cassandra nodded at her father, encouraging him to just go along with it.

“I see,” the Captain responded gruffly. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will get the Princess to safety and join you shortly. You have your orders.”

“Yes sir!” Stan saluted before running off. Nigel scurried off after him, scrambling to alert others within the castle of the news, leaving the Captain and Rapunzel alone, with Cassandra still hidden.

“I have to get to Eugene and Varian,” Rapunzel said suddenly, turning in the direction of her quarters.

“But Princess-”

“Don’t worry, Captain,” Rapunzel said softly, a kind smile on her face. “I’ll be fine. I promise. Go on ahead, and I’ll see you when this is all over.”

“Alright,” the Captain relented as his eyes flicked back toward Cassandra’s hiding place. “Be careful.” Cassandra got the sense that statement was meant for both of them.

“Always am.” Rapunzel grinned and exited the throne room.

Cassandra followed Rapunzel as she marched through the halls of the castle in the direction of her quarters. A plan quickly took shape in Cassandra’s mind as she double checked her surroundings to make sure that no one was around.

Anticipating the path Rapunzel would take to her room, Cassandra detoured into a branching hallway. She moved rapidly down the halls of the castle, taking a shortcut to a room that she knew intersected with Rapunzel’s usual path. Once there she waited in the doorway of the empty room, checking one final time that no one was around.

She did not have to wait long to intercept Rapunzel. As soon as she passed by the doorway, Cassandra reached out and grabbed Rapunzel by the arm. Before the princess could even process what was happening, Cassandra swiftly pulled her into the room, shutting the door behind them before anyone else could see them. She let go of Rapunzel’s arm, and her green eyes widened in shock as they met fluorescent blue.

Cassandra wasn’t sure what reaction she was anticipating from the princess. In all honesty, she was half expecting a frying pan to the head for grabbing her without warning, so she was genuinely surprised when Rapunzel’s face lit up at the sight of her.

“Cass!” Rapunzel exclaimed, throwing her arms around Cassandra without hesitation. The princess squeezed her tightly, and Cassandra’s cheeks flamed at the sudden physical contact. This was not what she had expected, but after a moment she found herself melting into the hug.

“Hey Raps,” she murmured softly. Cassandra wasn’t entirely sure what to say in this situation, but before she could even consider her thoughts, words began tumbling from Rapunzel’s mouth.

“I’m so glad you’re here. Cass, I am so _so_ sorry,” Rapunzel began as she backed out of the hug, genuine remorse in her eyes. “What happened at the Solstice Festival-”

“Stop. You didn’t know,” was the response Cassandra settled on, unable to bring herself to say that it was fine.

“But that doesn’t matter. I should’ve done more to prevent that from happening. I _could_ have done more. I _knew_ there was something more going on, even before Varian told me anything, I just _knew_ it.” Rapunzel stopped to take a deep breath before continuing. “I was so afraid that I had lost you forever.”

“You didn’t. I broke out of the amber just fine-”

“No, I’m not just talking about the amber. It was the look on your face, right after you escaped from it,” Rapunzel continued, looking upset by the memory. “This entire year I was so afraid that I had lost you, but I never gave up hope that you would come back. But in that moment…I was afraid that I truly had lost you forever. And worst of all, it would have been my fault.”

Cassandra was surprised by Rapunzel’s words. She didn’t want to admit how close she came to actually crossing that line, so she reached out and grabbed Rapunzel’s hand, squeezing it comfortingly. “Hey, we’re here now,” Cass reassured softly. “And for the record, it’s all a bit more complicated than that, and we _will_ talk more about it later. But for right now, we’re on a bit of a tight schedule.”

“Right!” Rapunzel responded with a tight nod, reminded of the imminent threat at hand. “Varian said the eclipse should be starting soon.”

“Varian filled you in on _everything_ , right?” Cassandra asked, looking for confirmation. “About Zhan Tiri?”

“He did,” Rapunzel responded lightly, although Cassandra could see by the way her brow creased that there was something troubling her.

Cassandra lifted an eyebrow. “And?”

“And I just have one question,” Rapunzel continued, looking distressed. “Why didn’t you tell me? About Zhan Tiri?”

The question caught Cassandra off guard. “What?”

“Varian said that this whole thing has been about trying to stop her, but that it started even before the Dark Kingdom. Why didn’t you tell me?” Rapunzel implored earnestly. “We could have worked this whole thing out together, and figured something out. You didn’t have to do this all on your own.”

Cass stiffened. “I _did_ tell you about Zhan Tiri, but you didn’t listen.”

“When?”

Cass narrowed her eyes. “The night you got back from the Demanitus Maze. I _told you_ that I had seen Zhan Tiri, but you said, and I quote, ‘is that all you wanted to talk about? Cass, that isn’t news’. You weren’t listening to me, so what else was I supposed to do?”

Rapunzel went to protest that it wasn’t true, but recognition flashed in her eyes. “Oh.”

_Yeah, ‘oh’._

“I guess I wasn’t listening, not really. Cass, I’m so sorry-”

“Please, Raps, stop apologizing and just _listen_ , please,” Cassandra begged. “I don’t know what’s going to happen between now and the end of the day, but I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing. If you ever trust my judgment, just for once in our lives, please let it be now.”

Rapunzel looked back at Cass and nodded resolutely. “Okay. I trust you, Cass. I’ll follow your lead on this. I promise.”

For once, she found herself believing Rapunzel when she said that. Relief crashed through Cassandra. It was all she had ever wanted; Rapunzel to just _listen_ to her and _trust_ her. For the first time in a long time, Cassandra had hope that they might be able to mend their relationship when this was all over.

Without warning Rapunzel began to sway on her feet, looking as if she was about to faint. Alarmed, Cassandra shot forward and helped to steady her.

“What-what’s happening?” Rapunzel asked weakly, looking fearful.

“The eclipse is starting.” Cassandra explained with a grimace. A glance out of the small window in the room confirmed it. As the two of them looked out to the sky, they could see the smallest sliver of shadow begin to encroach on the surface of the sun. “That means we have a little over an hour until the total eclipse. That’s when Zhan Tiri will be able to use that eclipse incantation to extract the Sundrop.”

“Alright,” Rapunzel said, a little color returning to her face. “Then let’s move. I can take us to Varian.”

* * *

Rapunzel grabbed Cassandra by the hand and stealthily led her down the few remaining corridors that separated them from Rapunzel’s bedroom. It turned out they didn’t need to bother with sneaking around; all was quiet as they moved through the halls. The absence of any other life was downright eerie, and Cassandra had no doubt that Zhan Tiri was at least partially responsible for that.

The two of them made it to Rapunzel’s room without incident where they found Eugene and Varian waiting, Eugene slumped in a chair as Varian nervously paced back and forth. At the sound of the door opening, both of their heads snapped in its direction as Rapunzel and Cassandra entered the room.

“Look who I found!” Rapunzel declared cheerfully, and Cassandra shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. Eugene’s eyes flashed with surprise as Varian’s lit up with excitement.

“Cass! You’re here!” Varian cried out, running up to Cassandra and enveloping her in a crushing hug. Cassandra idly wondered what was with all of the hugging today, but she found herself smiling softly and returned the hug. The kid really had wormed his way into a soft spot in her heart. After a moment Varian backed away sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. “Heh, I mean, of course you’re here! I knew you would be.”

Cassandra remembered how they had left things, with them arguing and her storming out the door in a rage. Although she stood by her sentiments on the matter, she still felt guilty about leaving him like that. “Yeah, I got your letter. Listen, Varian, I owe you an apology-”

“No you don’t,” he said resolutely, cutting her off. “You’re here with us now. That’s all that matters.”

“Ah, Cass _an_ dra!” Eugene cut in jovially, standing up from his chair. “It’s been a minute! Last I saw you, you were squeezing me to death in that freaky black rock tower of yours. Oh, how times have changed.” His tone was light and teasing, but while he tried to hide it under an easy smile, Cassandra could see the slightest hint of wariness in his eyes. Cassandra got the impression that he wanted to trust her, but couldn’t fully bring himself to, at least not yet. She really couldn’t blame him; she would feel the same if the roles were reversed.

“Eugene, I-”

“Eh, save it, Cass. Really, no hard feelings,” Eugene brushed off, sincere. “How could I have known that you were on some crazy quest to stop an ancient demon from destroying Corona? A quest that _bizarrely_ involved freeing said demon from her eternal prison before stopping her, but hey, what do I know?”

Cassandra went to protest that _he knew nothing_ and that _it was more complicated than he was making it out to be_ , but stopped herself. She didn’t have enough time to argue with Eugene. All of them needed to get on the same page, and they needed to get on it _now_.

“Okay, listen. We’ve got _maybe_ thirty minutes until Zhan Tiri comes to find us, forty-five if we’re lucky, so let’s get on the same page.”

“Where is she right now?” Varian inquired.

“She’s outside the castle,” Cassandra answered. Varian stared back, waiting for her to elaborate. “Part of the plan involved the two of us splitting up. Right now I’m supposed to be isolating Rapunzel somewhere, and Zhan Tiri is dealing with the guards and whoever else might be around to interfere.”

The three of them tensed at Cassandra’s words. “’Dealing’? Do you mean she’s-”

“No,” Cassandra cut Rapunzel off, knowing where she was going with that thought. “Zhan Tiri isn’t going to hurt anyone just yet.” _...not seriously, anyway._ Rapunzel relaxed. “Right now she’s just looking to distract everyone from what’s about to happen here, so she’s causing a scene somewhere and blocking off access to the castle, and more specifically, to you, Rapunzel. She doesn’t want anyone around to interfere with the extraction, since she only gets a really narrow window to use the incantation. But she’s not interested in seriously hurting anyone until after she has the Sundrop.”

“ _Oh_? And why is that?” Eugene asked, skeptical.

Cassandra sighed. “Zhan Tiri wants every person in this kingdom to witness her take the Sundrop. She also wants everyone to watch Corona burn as it falls at her hands.”

“ _Oh_. Excellent. That-that’s intense,” Eugene stammered. “That Zhan Tiri sounds like a real handful.”

An exhausted look crossed Cassandra’s face. “You have no idea.” Varian nodded his agreement with the sentiment.

“That won’t happen. Corona will not fall today,” Rapunzel said resolutely. “Not on our watch. All we have to do is open the portal, and Zhan Tiri will be sent back to the netherworld. Easy peasy.”

Varian turned toward Cassandra to gauge her reaction, but she fought to keep her expression neutral. She didn’t want him to know how on the fence she still was.

Cassandra was reminded that she did not know the specifics of Varian’s plan. “Varian, in your letter you said that you have a plan.”

Varian nodded, enthusiastic. “Right! So, the idea is to use Rapunzel as bait to lure Zhan Tiri _here_ , where we can catch her by surprise with the portal. The second she opens that door and walks into the room, then BAM, I’ll pull the lever and activate the portal, pulling her in before she has a chance to react. All we have to do is stand clear of the portal when Zhan Tiri walks in, or we risk getting pulled in with her.”

_That abrupt, huh?_

“Great,” Cass responded, still fighting to keep her expression neutral. “Where’s the portal?” Varian had mentioned he was planning to lure Zhan Tiri _here_ to use the portal, but if the portal was here, she hadn’t noticed it. She was about to assume that Varian was currently hiding it in another room when her eyes finally fell upon the portal. “Please tell me this is a joke.”

“Uh, yes?” Varian tried sheepishly.

Spaced about ten feet back from the door to Rapunzel’s room and angled toward the entrance was the portal. It stood at about twice Cassandra’s height, but was, most notably, poorly concealed beneath a giant white sheet. The sight of it was so absurd and out of place that Cassandra could not believe she hadn’t noticed the contraption sooner.

“You can’t be serious. _This_ is your plan? Hide the portal under a sheet and hope Zhan Tiri doesn’t notice?” Cassandra hissed, absolutely floored by the ridiculous sight.

“That’s what I’ve been screaming!” Eugene screeched.

“Well to be fair, the idea is to turn on the portal and suck her in _before_ she even has a chance to notice the portal,” Varian defended. His voice turned into a mumble as he continued, “I figured the sheet might be able to buy us an extra few seconds.”

“Zhan Tiri isn’t an idiot, Varian, _you know that!_ It’s going to take her not even two seconds to notice that portal,” Cassandra snapped.

“Those two seconds are all I need to pull the lever! Listen, Cass, I know this is probably not the best plan, but it’s our best shot. We are _out of time_ ,” Varian said seriously. “Besides, this was originally _your_ plan to begin with, remember?”

Cassandra wanted to scream in frustration. “Fine. But what if those two seconds _aren’t_ enough time to work the portal? Did you come up with a plan for that?”

Varian looked at her as he nervously ran his hands through his hair. “Yeah…see, um…my backup plan was that you would be able to handle it, if that’s what it came to. I was kind of banking on you switching back to our side.”

Cassandra stared blankly at him, thinking about how close she came to not doing that. “That was a stupid gamble, kid.”

“Clearly not, because here you are,” Varian shot back with a cheeky grin.

“Just so we’re clear, your backup plan is that I, what, _force_ Zhan Tiri into the portal?” Cassandra asked, incredulous. Varian nodded. “You can’t be serious.”

“What, you mean you can’t take her?” Eugene goaded.

Cassandra laughed at the thought. “Are you kidding? If it comes down to a fight, I don’t stand a chance. She’d wipe the floor with me.”

“Under any other circumstances, I would pay real human money to see that,” Eugene quipped. Cassandra glared at him.

“I don’t know, Cass, I wouldn’t count us out just yet. Between the two of us, we have the power of the Sundrop _and_ the Moonstone. I think even Zhan Tiri would have a hard time facing that kind of power,” Rapunzel said confidently.

“No, we _can’t_. You don’t understand. You have no idea what she is capable of - hell, even _I_ don’t know everything she’s capable of with her magic. It’s not just that she’s powerful, it’s that no one knows magic like she does. Yes, the Sundrop and Moonstone are powerful, but what makes Zhan Tiri so dangerous is that she knows how to wield power. That’s why it’s so important she can’t get her hands on the Sundrop. If she does, it’s over.”

“Also, not to burst your bubble,” Varian chimed in, “but the eclipse blocks out the power of the Sundrop. You’re already not at full strength, and your power is just going to continue to fade the closer we get to the total eclipse.” The four of them sat there in silence for a moment as they contemplated the situation.

“Is the Sundrop really that much more powerful than whatever magic Zhan Tiri already has?” Rapunzel asked seriously.

Cassandra nodded. “At least, that’s what she believes.”

“Really?” Eugene asked, surprised. “I mean, that blizzard of hers was not _nothing_. Nor that freaky shell house for that matter. With that kind of power, why does she want the Sundrop so badly?”

“Studying magic is kind of her thing. She said the Sundrop and Moonstone are celestial sources of magic, unlike anything she’s ever seen before. Whatever power source she has comes from the Earth, so she’s interested in what the drops can do and what their abilities are.”

“Wait. So you’re saying that Zhan Tiri has a power source, like how you have the Moonstone?” Eugene asked, waving his hand for emphasis.

Cassandra nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“Alright then, problem solved. If Plan A does end up failing, knock out her power source and kick her demon butt back inside that portal.”

Cassandra glared at him irritably. “You don’t think I’ve thought of that? If I knew what her power source was, I would have knocked it out already.”

“Hey, it was just a suggestion,” Eugene held his hands up in defense. “If anyone has any other ideas for a Plan B, I’m all ears.”

“It won’t come to that,” Rapunzel asserted. “True, we only get one shot to get Zhan Tiri in the portal, but I think we can manage that. And if we can’t, then well, we’ll improvise and figure it out. We always do.”

As Cassandra side-eyed the sheet-concealed portal, she couldn’t say she shared that confidence. Before she could once again voice her concerns, Rapunzel began to sway on her feet again. Eugene was quick to swoop in and steady her.

“Blondie, are you alright?” he asked, concerned. Rapunzel smiled weakly back at him.

“I’m okay, but that…that didn’t feel great,” Rapunzel admitted, looking more than a little uneasy.

“It’s going to keep getting worse until totality hits,” Varian explained apologetically. He turned to look out the balcony window, his expression faltering. “Aaand, it looks like we’re getting real close.”

Cassandra turned to look out the balcony and saw that Varian was right. The eclipse had moved farther along, with more than half of the sun concealed by the moon. In that moment Cassandra could feel something shift on the edge of her subconscious; Zhan Tiri had changed course and was finally heading in their direction.

“Zhan Tiri is headed this way,” Cassandra informed the others. “We only have a few minutes until she gets here.”

“H-How do you know that?” Varian asked.

Cassandra didn’t want to explain. “Don’t worry about that, it’s not important.”

“It’s not important?” Eugene prodded, incredulous. “’Cause from where I’m standing, it feels a little important.”

“We don’t have time for that, just take my word for it,” Cass snapped. “And if you want to make the best out of those two extra seconds that sheet might get you, I suggest you two hide under it. Zhan Tiri is expecting me to be alone with Rapunzel.”

“Roger that,” Eugene said. He looked anxiously at Rapunzel, squeezing her hand reassuringly with a smile before hiding with Varian under the sheet

As the two of them hid underneath the sheet with the portal, Cassandra found herself shaking her head at the ridiculous sight. Eugene and Varian were directly behind the portal so that the lever was in Varian’s reach while Cassandra and Rapunzel positioned themselves a few feet back from the portal, standing in the center of the room. The four of them sat in uncharacteristic silence as they waited, a sense of anxiety permeating the room. For all of Rapunzel’s confidence, even she looked a little nervous, and quite frankly ill. As Cassandra studied Rapunzel’s pale countenance with concern, Rapunzel met Cassandra’s eyes and smiled brightly at her.

“We got this, Cass,” Rapunzel reassured. Cassandra returned the smile, wishing she could feel that certainty.

“I hope so.”

The day of reckoning was finally here. Everything Cassandra had done this year had been leading up to this moment; the chance to beat Zhan Tiri at her own game. She had thought she would feel more prepared when the time came, but Cassandra found herself more torn up than ever. Not only were the stakes high for failure, but Cassandra was also bothered by what success meant here.

There was something unsettlingly _abrupt_ about the plan that didn’t sit right with Cassandra. Zhan Tiri would step into the room, the portal would be activated, and that would be the end. There would be no final words exchanged. By the time Zhan Tiri realized that Cassandra had betrayed her, it would already be too late. Cass didn’t want to know what Zhan Tiri’s face would look like in that last moment, the rage and anger that she would see there as Zhan Tiri pieced together that Cassandra had followed in the footsteps of Demanitus. Cassandra already knew the guilt she would harbor over this, but she couldn’t see another option.

But of course, this was all contingent on “Plan A” actually working. Cassandra was not confident that they would be able to pull this off, and she was even less optimistic about their odds if their already precarious plan failed. The slightest slip up on their part had the potential to be catastrophic.

Cassandra thought back to what Eugene had suggested earlier, about a possible Plan B. Eugene did have the right idea; if they could somehow manage to figure out what Zhan Tiri’s magic source was and take it from her, then she would cease to be a problem. And if that was the case, Cassandra mused, then they wouldn’t even need to use the portal. After all, Cassandra was just looking to prevent the kingdom’s destruction; she didn’t want Zhan Tiri to go through that portal if she could help it. If Zhan Tiri was rendered powerless by taking out her magic source, she would be unable to destroy the kingdom, and the sorceress could be spared from eternal imprisonment.

Zhan Tiri had to possess a power source, that much Cassandra was certain of. But _what_ was it? Would the source even be with her? And even if it was, would she be able to take it, or possibly even destroy it? Desperate for an answer, Cassandra thought back on everything she was taught about magic and power sources, which admittedly wasn’t much. She knew from her discussions with Zhan Tiri and Varian that power sources were physical objects that contained magic within them, but most of what Cassandra knew was specific to her own source, the Moonstone. Cassandra knew that by removing the opal that rested on her chest, she would be stripped of the Moonstone’s power. Did that same logic apply to Zhan Tiri and her power source, whatever it might be? Maybe she-

The answer hit Cassandra like a slap across the face. _Zhan Tiri’s gemstone_ ; it had been hiding in plain sight this entire time. How many times had she watched the purple gem on Zhan Tiri’s forehead flash violet with magic, in much the same way the opal on her chest pulsed with cyan light? The gemstone was her power source. It had to be. Cassandra felt incredibly stupid for not realizing it sooner.

With that realization, Cassandra finally had the third option she was so desperately searching for. Instead of imprisoning Zhan Tiri or allowing her to destroy Corona, she could strip Zhan Tiri of her magic. That way she would cease to be a threat capable of leveling an entire kingdom. Sure, the fallout wouldn’t be pleasant, but she also wouldn’t be condemned to spend the rest of eternity back in that void.

As she mulled over the thought, Cassandra realized seizing the gemstone must have been how Corona managed to imprison Zhan Tiri the first time, before Demanitus created the portal. Demanitus must have known about the gem and instructed the guards to remove it before she returned to consciousness. And if that was the case, it was a precedent that meant _this could work._

Before the beginnings of a plan could begin to take shape in Cassandra’s mind, she could feel a sudden turn in the direction which Zhan Tiri was traveling. Cassandra could feel that she was close, but she noticed that Zhan Tiri wasn’t coming from _inside_ the castle, where she would pass through the door to Rapunzel's room. No, she was approaching from _outside_ the castle, heading in the direction of the tower’s balcony. Which meant that Zhan Tiri would not be stepping in front of the portal.

Cassandra opened her mouth to say something then hesitated. Even if she said something right now, there would not be enough time to pick up the portal and turn it around, she reasoned.

Plan A was shot, and she was committed to going all in on Plan B.

Cassandra turned to look seriously at Rapunzel. “Whatever happens next, I need you to trust me.”

“What do you mean-”

“Just _please_ trust me,” Cassandra pleaded.

Rapunzel nodded. “Alright. I trust you, Cass.”

The two of them jumped as massive vines suddenly crashed through the window of the balcony, spilling out into the expanse of Rapunzel’s room. The vines, thick as Cassandra’s arms, coiled and twisted together to form a gnarled web, laying a path for Zhan Tiri as she entered from the balcony. Cassandra grit her teeth when Zhan Tiri stepped into view, watching as Rapunzel gaped in shock, looking at Cassandra before turning to do a double take. Much to Cassandra’s chagrin, Zhan Tiri remained in her disguise from her earlier “distraction”, a perfect double of Cassandra. Seeing Zhan Tiri’s trademark smirk on her own face was unnerving, to say the least.

 _Someone knows how to make an entrance_ , Cassandra thought to herself bitterly.

Zhan Tiri grinned wickedly at Rapunzel and laughed, clearly pleased with her reaction. The sorceress took that moment to shift out of her disguise, and Cassandra watched as the magic shimmered around Zhan Tiri as she transformed. Her eyes focused on the gemstone adorned on her forehead, watching as it pulsed with violet light. It was all the confirmation Cassandra was looking for; the gem had to be the source of Zhan Tiri’s magic.

With the original plan now in shambles, it was time for Cassandra to improvise and go all in on her half-baked idea. She recognized that if this was going to work, she needed to hold on to Zhan Tiri’s trust for a while longer and wait for an opportune moment to strike. Cassandra knew she would get one such moment when Zhan Tiri would have to let her guard down at the start of totality, when she prepared to extract the Sundrop. It would be a narrow window, but it would be all the time she needed. Keeping Zhan Tiri’s trust meant seemingly betraying the others, but it was a gamble she was going to have to take. All she could do was hope that they were serious about trusting her.

No longer in disguise, Zhan Tiri smirked and took a step forward as Rapunzel took the opportunity to let down her hair. “I have waited a long time for this opportunity, Princess. How poetic that within the same exchange, I will not only complete my lifelong quest, but also fulfill my promise to destroy Corona.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Rapunzel challenged. “You’re going to be waiting _a lot_ longer. An _eternity_ longer, to be precise.”

“My, such unearned confidence,” Zhan Tiri chimed with a laugh. “Joke all you want, Rapunzel, but the eclipse is upon us. I assume you have figured out who I am by now.”

Rapunzel narrowed her eyes in defiance. “That you’re the ancient demon Zhan Tiri? Yeah, I’ve gathered as much.”

Zhan Tiri smiled, bemused. “Then you know you should give up while you still can. I promise you will find that option to be easier on us both.”

“You should know, I’m not big on giving up. Neither of us are,” Rapunzel said resolutely, gesturing towards Cassandra.

Zhan Tiri threw her head back in laughter. “’Us’? Oh, you poor thing.” Zhan Tiri turned to look at Cassandra with a bemused grin. “I see you’ve done exceedingly well with your task, Cassandra.”

“And you sure took your time with yours,” Cassandra said dryly. Rapunzel snapped her head in Cassandra’s direction, surprised by the casual note in her tone.

Zhan Tiri shrugged, taking another step towards them. “I would argue that I’m right on time, but what can I say? The guards were persistent, unsurprisingly. I got to see firsthand just how deeply Corona fears you, my dear.”

Cassandra did her best to ignore the jab. “What is surprising is that you haven’t noticed _that_ yet,” she retorted, jerking her thumb in the direction of the portal. Rapunzel turned to look at Cassandra in shock, while Zhan Tiri’s smirk never faltered from her expression.

“Cass, what are you doing?” Rapunzel demanded, looking betrayed. “I thought-”

“What, that I was on your side?” Cassandra sneered. “You can’t seriously believe that I would help you after everything that’s happened.”

“But Cass-”

“What, the portal?” Zhan Tiri cut in with an innocent look. Cassandra and Rapunzel turned toward her, surprised. The sorceress reached into her bag and pulled out a small object. As she dangled it in front of them, Cassandra recognized it as a critical piece to the portal’s energy source. “Oh, I’m aware. I noticed it last night while we were searching the castle. The white sheet isn’t as inconspicuous as you would like to believe it is, my dear Rapunzel.”

“That wasn’t her bright idea,” Cassandra retorted.

Zhan Tiri looked at her to continue, and Cassandra sauntered forward to rip the sheet from on top of the portal, revealing Eugene and Varian crouching beside the lever. They looked at Cassandra with mirrored expressions of shock, and Cass did her best to ignore the thorns of guilt that blossomed within her. She needed Zhan Tiri’s unwavering trust for her plan to work, she reminded herself. Zhan Tiri looked only mildly surprised to see them there.

“Figured you would want to handle them yourself,” Cass added with a smirk.

“H-Hello,” Varian waved at Zhan Tiri sheepishly. Zhan Tiri looked at the two of them in amusement, although Cassandra noticed a certain hardness in her expression. The sorceress reached out her hand, summoning the vines that protruded in from the balcony. Within seconds they were wrapped tightly around Eugene and Varian, effectively restraining them. With a pull of her arm the vines yanked forward, pulling them away from the portal and dragging them in front of her. The vines crawled up, gagging their mouths so they couldn’t speak.

“No!” Rapunzel cried out, lunging forward to go help them. Cassandra grabbed her arms and held her back.

Zhan Tiri took a step toward Varian with a sinister smile. “I have to say, young alchemist, I’m rather impressed. That old fool Demanitus would be proud of the work you’ve done here, just as he would be proud of your shifting allegiances,” Zhan Tiri said with venom. “But no matter. That portal is unusable without this component, so really there is no harm done. I never did quite thank you for your work with this,” she continued, holding up the synthetic stone, “so I will overlook this transgression and spare you.”

At that moment Rapunzel managed to struggle out of Cassandra’s grasp, whipping out her hair to grab Zhan Tiri by the arm. The sorceress turned to look at her, amused, as if she were nothing more than a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Let. Them. _Go_.”

Cassandra sprang into action, trapping Rapunzel in a loose cage of the black rocks before Zhan Tiri had the opportunity to do something worse. Rapunzel looked at her betrayed, and Cassandra looked back at her, hoping that Rapunzel could see the pleading look in her eyes.

“I’m afraid no one is going anywhere until our business is done here,” Zhan Tiri said, brushing off Rapunzel’s hair. She paused to look out towards the sky, smirking at the sight. “And it looks like it is just about time.”

Cassandra followed Zhan Tiri’s line of sight. Gazing out the destroyed window, she could see that the moon was now almost entirely eclipsing the sun. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Rapunzel sway again, leaning against the black rocks for support.

Before approaching the princess, Zhan Tiri turned to look at Cassandra with a sly smile. “Our work is almost finished. Make sure those two do not interfere,” she said with a pointed look in the direction of Eugene and Varian.

“Alright,” Cass responded with a nod, moving to stand beside Eugene and Varian. She pointedly ignored the looks they gave her, electing to focus on the scene before her. Her window of opportunity to strike was about to open up. All she needed was Zhan Tiri to be off her guard for just one moment. She just needed enough time to wrestle the gem from her forehead, then she could quickly destroy it with the black rocks.

Despite her weakness, Rapunzel struggled against the grip of the black rocks and tried to maneuver herself away from Zhan Tiri’s approach. All Cassandra could do now was watch and wait.

“I have waited a long time for this, Rapunzel. I would like to thank you for taking care of what rightfully belongs to me. Now, do me one last favor and hold onto this.” Zhan Tiri thrust the stone into her grasp. Before Rapunzel could protest, she clasped her hands over Rapunzel’s, forcing her hand shut over the stone.

The time for waiting was over. They looked to the sky as the total eclipse began in earnest, the world falling into darkness as the moon took its place center stage.

Rapunzel collapsed forward onto the black rocks, holding tightly onto them as the Sundrop’s magic was completely inactivated by the eclipse. Zhan Tiri grinned, closing her eyes in concentration as she began to recite the words to the eclipse incantation.

_“Power of the sun,_

_Severed by the moon.”_

Cassandra’s opportunity was here. She watched as Zhan Tiri engrossed herself in the ritual, oblivious to anything else.

_“Spurn the sky above,_

_And to this world, attune.”_

The effect of the incantation was beginning to take hold. Cassandra watched in horror as the magic faded from Rapunzel, her hair slowly changing from golden blond to her natural brunette as the magic flowed out of her and into the stone.

It was now or never. Cassandra braced herself, taking a step forward to position herself to strike.

“ _Flow from host of old,_

 _Into host anew._ ”

Varian and Eugene watched with interest as Cassandra silently crept forward, crouching low to the ground. She took a quiet breath to steady herself.

“ _Cycle through this world,_

_As all the living do.”_

Cassandra lunged forward, springing to jump on Zhan Tiri’s back.

“ _The living do-”_


	19. The Game is Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woohoo, we're almost to the end!! :D
> 
> after this one, there's one chapter left and then an epilogue! as always, thank you all so so much for the kudos and comments, i can't begin to tell you how much they brighten my day.
> 
> anyways, enjoy the chapter!

Cassandra moved like a lightning strike. Within an instant she had landed on Zhan Tiri’s back and reached for the gemstone, clutching it tightly in her hand.

Caught off guard, Zhan Tiri stumbled backwards. Her hands slipped away from Rapunzel’s where she had been forcing the Princess’s hand closed over the stone to transfer the Sundrop’s power. Rapunzel immediately unclenched her fist, allowing the stone to break contact and tumble onto the floor.

“What are you doing?” Zhan Tiri hissed in surprise. By the time the words had left her mouth, Cassandra had already managed to rip the gem off of her forehead, taking the whole beaded headpiece with it. With a grin that was equal parts vicious and triumphant, Cassandra jumped off Zhan Tiri’s back, grasping the gem tightly within her right hand.

Cassandra stared at Zhan Tiri with a level look as the sorceress turned away from Rapunzel to face her. Zhan Tiri’s face was filled with genuine surprise. She moved her arm as if attempting to use her magic, but nothing happened. As she processed what had just transpired, the look in her eyes shifted from shock and disorientation into utter betrayal. Cassandra’s stomach twisted with guilt, but she was overwhelmed by the feeling of relief that crashed over her. She had guessed correctly; Zhan Tiri was powerless without the gemstone.

“Sorry, Zhan Tiri,” Cassandra began, adrenaline coursing through her veins, “but I can’t let you do this.”

Before Zhan Tiri even had a chance to react, Cassandra released the gem from her grasp. As it fell, Cassandra called upon the power of the Moonstone and clenched her first. Black rocks erupted from the ground and _slammed_ together with incredible force, crushing the gem between them before it had the chance to hit the ground.

_Crack._

Brilliant violet light flashed from between the rocks as the gem was pulverized. With another motion of Cassandra’s hand, the rocks parted to reveal what was left. The gem had been reduced to dust, and Cassandra watched as it floated up in a beautiful, shimmering cloud of violet before fading into nothing.

In the blink of an eye, the magic that Zhan Tiri had actively been using was undone. All of the vines in the room went slack as they were freed from Zhan Tiri’s control, and Cassandra heard a _thud_ as Eugene and Varian tumbled unceremoniously onto the floor.

“ _Oof_ ,” Varian huffed.

There was a beat of stunned silence. Cassandra took the opportunity to banish the black rocks in the room, including the ones that had been caging Rapunzel.

She was struck by the enormity of what she had just done. _She had actually managed to pull one over on Zhan Tiri._ But even though she had managed to destroy the _current_ source of Zhan Tiri’s magic, the question still remained:

Had she acted fast enough to prevent the transfer of the Sundrop’s magic?

She turned to where Rapunzel was crumpled on the floor beside the stone. Cassandra could see that she was visibly weak, but to her relief, Rapunzel was still very much conscious.

However, Rapunzel’s consciousness was where the good news ended. To Cassandra’s horror, she could still see the golden magic draining out of Rapunzel and flowing into the nearby discarded stone, despite the fact they were no longer in contact. Slowly but surely, Rapunzel’s hair was reverting to its natural color as the stone began to flicker with the faintest amount of golden light.

It was evident that Cassandra had been too late in cutting off Zhan Tiri’s extraction, but it wasn’t too late to keep the Sundrop out of Zhan Tiri’s grasp. Steeling herself for the inevitable conflict, Cassandra drew her shadowblade and turned to face the sorceress.

Cassandra had tried to imagine many times over how Zhan Tiri would react to her betrayal. Would she be furious, and lash out at Cassandra? Or would she be shocked and hurt, and Cassandra would have to see the same look of betrayal in her eyes she had when looking at Demanitus all those years ago? Cassandra had expected anger, hurt, fury, indignation, betrayal, any number of emotional responses that would be warranted by the situation.

But Zhan Tiri’s face did not betray a single emotion. The sorceress was calm and at ease, the picture of composure. There was an easy smile on her face, and a look in her eye that was equal parts blazing and chilling, but otherwise unreadable to Cassandra.

One thing was clear. This was not the face of someone who had _lost._

Fear coiled in the pit of Cassandra’s stomach.

“Do you take me for a fool, Cassandra?” Zhan Tiri questioned, her voice eerily soft. When Cassandra did not respond, her eyes narrowed. “I see. I was afraid that it would come to this. Disappointing, but not entirely a surprise.”

Only then did Cassandra notice that Zhan Tiri had reached a hand into her bag. Cassandra hesitated as she watched Zhan Tiri pull her hand out to reveal an object held tightly in her grasp. It was a beautiful blue stone marked with the symbol of the Brotherhood, and Cassandra recognized it as the object they had gone to the Spire to collect.

“The Mindtrap,” Cassandra said in recognition, a bad feeling washing over her. In all honesty, she had forgotten about the talisman up until this moment. The last time she had asked about it was during their time in the Spire, when Zhan Tiri had brushed off her question. She was suddenly regretting not pressing the issue harder. “You never told me what it does.”

“It’s a pity that you will be finding out the hard way, but you have left me with no other choice,” Zhan Tiri said, a dangerous smile crossing her face. “I command you to drop your weapon.”

Before Cassandra could scoff at the ridiculous order, the Mindtrap flashed with brilliant cyan light. The Moonstone responded with a flash of its own, and Cassandra was caught off guard by the strange sensation of a connection clicking into place.

Cassandra’s arm fell to her side and her hand unclenched, allowing the shadowblade to slip from her grasp. It clattered on the floor beside her, and Cassandra was struck by the horrible realization that the action had not been of her own volition. She tried to bend down and retrieve the weapon, but found herself unable to move.

Panic rose within her. She tried to move, tried to speak, tried to _scream_ , but every attempted action was futile. It was as if the strings that had connected her consciousness to her body were severed and replaced with the puppet strings of the talisman, leaving her untethered.

Cassandra was trapped inside her own mind. There was nothing she could do, except stare ahead as Zhan Tiri’s face twisted into a triumphant, self-satisfied smirk.

“Sorry Cassandra, _but I can’t let you do this_ ,” Zhan Tiri said mockingly, echoing Cassandra’s earlier words. If Cassandra had been physically capable of strangling her in that moment, she would have.

“Cass!” Varian cried out. From the corner of her eye she could see Varian try to lunge in her direction, but Eugene pulled him back before he could get very far. Zhan Tiri’s eyes briefly flicked in their direction, but she elected to ignore them for now.

Instead, she turned her attention back to where Rapunzel remained crumpled on the floor. Some of the tension in Zhan Tiri’s shoulders fell away as she saw that the transfer of the Sundrop’s magic had not been interrupted, watching as the golden color faded from Rapunzel and intensified in the stone. With the confirmation that she was firmly in control of the situation, she turned back to Cassandra with her signature smirk.

“It appears we have a moment for a little _chat_ , my dear,” Zhan Tiri taunted. “You may speak freely.”

A tug from the connection, and Cassandra found she once again had the ability to speak. She had _many_ choice words on her mind, but she settled for the question: “What the hell did you do to me?”

Zhan Tiri narrowed her eyes and took a step toward her. “I believe the question should not be what _I_ have done, but rather what _you_ have done, Cassandra.” Zhan Tiri gently placed a hand under Cassandra’s chin, angling her face such that she was staring directly into Zhan Tiri’s violet eyes. Cassandra desperately wanted to swat her hand away and take a step back in defiance, but much to her frustration, she was still paralyzed. Satisfied, Zhan Tiri removed her hand and continued.

“I have to admit, your little _stunt_ with the gemstone was quite clever. Ill-fated, but clever. How unfortunate that your transgression accomplished nothing,” Zhan Tiri began, words dripping with venom. “The Sundrop’s magic will soon be mine, so the loss of my gem is nothing more than a temporary inconvenience. In the end, I suppose you have done no real harm.”

Zhan Tiri’s smile turned bitter, and her eyes hardened slightly. “You see, Cassandra, I had suspected for quite some time that you might betray me. I learned from Demanitus to trust no one, and you, my dear, are no exception. I wanted to believe that you had actually come to your senses and were prepared to stand beside me, but I was wrong. Clearly, I underestimated your misguided loyalty to Corona and your _precious_ Princess. Thankfully, I was prepared for this outcome.”

Gleefully, she held up the blue talisman in her hand. “The Mindtrap talisman. It was created long ago by members of the Brotherhood to control the vessel of the Moonstone, should the opal ever fall into the wrong hands. With this talisman in my possession, you are under my complete control.”

Cassandra was rendered speechless as she processed the sheer horror of the situation she found herself in. Zhan Tiri turned to the sky briefly before looking back at Cassandra, smiling as the eclipse rapidly approached the end of totality.

“You see, it was never a choice of whether or not you would help me. It was a choice of whether or not you would help me _willingly_.”

“ _I won’t,_ ” Cassandra spat. “Mindtrap be damned, I am _not_ going to stand by and watch you destroy this kingdom and hurt innocent people. You-”

“I have heard enough,” Zhan Tiri snapped. Another pulse of light, another tug of the puppet strings, and Cassandra lost the ability to speak. A sly smile crossed Zhan Tiri’s face, pleased with her control. “Oh Cassandra, do not fret. You will not be standing by. No, since you have suddenly grown so reluctant to strike back against the kingdom that has wronged you so, I thought that it would be fitting if _you_ were the one to end it.”

Dread coursed through Cassandra. She wanted to scream her opposition, but the use of her voice was far out of reach. Zhan Tiri’s smile grew into a sinister grin, as if she could sense Cassandra’s futile resistance.

“Oh, Cassandra. Believe me when I say that I am doing _both_ of us a favor. You will thank me someday.”

The talisman pulsed again with blue light, despite the fact that Zhan Tiri did not verbalize a command. Cassandra could do nothing but watch in mute horror as she extended her arms in front of her, the opal in her chest crackling with blue bolts of lightning. At the Moonstone’s command, black rocks erupted from the ground in all directions. They cut through the floor of the castle and shot out as far as the courtyard outside, cutting through the darkened capital of Corona. Cassandra struggled internally to regain control, to find a way to stop the Moonstone’s magic, but she may as well have been grasping at air.

All she could do was watch the destruction of Corona by her own hand from inside the prison of her own mind. Cassandra had never felt so powerless.

“Cass!” Rapunzel gasped from somewhere beside her, and to Cassandra’s relief, the onslaught of black rocks temporarily stopped. Her body paused then turned to look at Rapunzel, who was struggling to sit up. Judging by the fact that Rapunzel’s long hair had completely reverted to its natural brunette color, it looked as if the extraction process was completed. The magic of the Sundrop was now concentrated in the stone, which now softly glowed with golden light. Cassandra’s eyes flicked up to the sky to where the slightest amount of sunlight was beginning to break out from behind the moon.

Totality was over.

Cassandra’s eyes moved to look at Rapunzel, whose strength was slowly returning to her. Rapunzel’s vibrant green eyes stared back at her, and they were filled with fear. It was not that she was afraid _of_ Cassandra. No, it was clear that she was afraid _for_ her.

Rapunzel’s eyes flicked to the side where the Sundrop laid on the floor, just out of reach. She then looked briefly at Zhan Tiri before turning back towards Cassandra, a determined expression crossing her face. Suddenly she dove for the Sundrop, but Cassandra moved faster. Rapunzel barely made it an inch before Cassandra extended her arm, shooting out a massive spike that pinned Rapunzel to the wall by her hair.

Rapunzel cried out, half in surprise and half in pain, before she opened her eyes to stare at Zhan Tiri with the most withering look she could muster.

“Nice try, Princess,” Zhan Tiri mocked. “But that no longer belongs to you.”

“Rapunzel!” Eugene cried out in alarm. He let go of Varian and charged in Zhan Tiri’s direction, lunging for the Mindtrap. He moved with a speed that came from years of experience as a seasoned thief on the run, and for all the power Zhan Tiri wielded, she was neither a fighter nor warrior.

Zhan Tiri managed a step backwards, barely keeping the Mindtrap out of Eugene’s reach, but she could not avoid being knocked off balance. She stumbled, and Cassandra could not mistake the sound of something clattering onto the floor.

Cassandra watched as Varian’s attention was captured by the sound, his expression changing as his eyes locked on to whatever had fallen. Before Cassandra could discern what he was looking at, she found that her attention was redirected to where Eugene and Zhan Tiri stood.

The traitorous opal in her chest flashed with bolts of lightning, and Cassandra’s hand moved of its own accord. Eugene found himself trapped in a tight cage of the black rocks before he had the chance to strike again. Zhan Tiri stared back at the former thief with no small amount of contempt.

“I have had quite enough of this,” she said sourly.

At Zhan Tiri’s words, Cassandra found the Moonstone’s magic twisting in a new and unfamiliar way. Something akin to nausea rolled through her body, and the black rocks in the room pulsed with a sickly white light. The atmosphere of the room was permeated with that same sickly feeling, and Cassandra watched as Rapunzel, Eugene, and Varian buckled forward, as if the air had suddenly been pulled from their lungs.

While Cassandra was physically disengaged from her current reality, she could still sense the effects of the magic. It was as if the rocks were a vacuum, pulling out all emotion from the room, leaving behind only a sense of lethargy, emptiness, and hopelessness. Watching their tired and weary expressions, Cassandra was reminded of the effects of the decay incantation. Only this time there were no physical effects of decay; whatever was happening, it was taking place entirely inside their own minds.

“We never did quite get to the full extent of how the Moonstone can bend the emotions of others,” Zhan Tiri remarked, appraising Cassandra with a feral grin. “Inciting fear with the red rocks was only the tip of the iceberg.”

Cassandra stood helplessly as the Moonstone leeched the vitality from the room, unable to do anything but stare ahead at Eugene and silently curse Zhan Tiri.

There was an unexpected sound of something being cut. Cassandra and Zhan Tiri turned in the direction of the sound and to their surprise found Rapunzel standing free, shadowblade in hand. Neither Cassandra or Zhan Tiri had noticed her grab the weapon, which had laid discarded on the floor just within her reach. The sound had come from Rapunzel cutting herself free by chopping off the hair that the black rock had pinned to the wall. Her hair was now the length it had been when Cassandra had first met her, a bob cropped to just above her shoulders.

Despite feeling the emotional leaching effects of the Moonstone’s magic, Rapunzel still managed to stare back with a fiery look of determination. Even now, it was nearly impossible to dull Rapunzel’s spirit.

As Rapunzel stared at Cassandra her expression shifted, as if she had decided on a course of action. Before Zhan Tiri or Cassandra could react, Rapunzel moved deliberately and without hesitation. She turned toward where the Sundrop laid on the ground beside her, lifted up the shadowblade, and brought the nearly club-like blade down on the stone with all of the force she could manage.

_Crack._

The shadowblade made a hard impact, and brilliant golden light exploded out. When the light dissipated a heartbeat later, it revealed the stone on the ground. Unlike the gem, the Sundrop had not been destroyed, but rather cracked into several uneven shards. Each fragment was alight with the golden magic of the Sundrop, a testament that its power was divided rather than destroyed.

“I thought I told you,” Rapunzel said with a self-satisfied grin. “I’m not big on giving up.”

Cassandra could have kissed her in that moment, but her brief feeling of triumph was quickly replaced by fear when she noticed that Zhan Tiri’s composure had also cracked and splintered, a murderous look crossing her face. Cassandra felt another pulse of magic from the opal in her chest before black rocks shot out and trapped Rapunzel, encasing her wrists so she could not move.

"You will pay dearly for your little stunt, Princess," Zhan Tiri snarled as Rapunzel stared back at her, defiant. Zhan Tiri turned her attention to the fragments on the floor, picking one up from the ground to examine it. Some relief bled into her expression with the confirmation that the Sundrop had not been destroyed, but merely splintered. Zhan Tiri clenched the shard in her fist and smiled ruefully at Rapunzel.

“Thankfully, I have no use for you anymore, Rapunzel.” Zhan Tiri spat her name with venom. “What a shame that you will not live to witness the fall of your kingdom.”

Fear, cold and sharp, struck through Cassandra. She fought harder to regain control of her body, tried everything she could to remove the black rocks restraining Rapunzel, but she still could not break through the influence of the Mindtrap. The rocks remained, holding Rapunzel in place as she struggled against the restraints, as Zhan Tiri turned to face Cassandra.

As if Cassandra wasn’t horrified enough, a sadistic smile crossed Zhan Tiri’s face as she said, “Cassandra, dear, why don’t you do the honors?”

Terror rolled through her as her traitorous body took a step forward. Cassandra flailed desperately within the prison of her mind. She was screaming at herself to break free, to take control, to do _anything_ to stop this. She couldn't do this, she _wouldn't_. This was a line she would never cross, an act that she would never be able to forgive herself for, whether it was unwilling or not.

There had to be something she could do to sever the connection. Cassandra took a moment to pause and take a step back, and really pay attention to what she was even feeling at the moment. All she could perceive was the threads of magic that connected the Mindtrap to the Moonstone, the thread that blocked Cassandra’s consciousness from taking control. The threads were not unlike the feeling of puppet strings, but when Cassandra tried to reach for them, they remained elusive.

As she fought tooth and nail for control over her mind, Cassandra found herself standing over Rapunzel. She could once again see the fearful look in her eyes, the fear not _of_ Cassandra but _for_ her. Cassandra could also see blind faith in her eyes, a certainty that Cass would not do this. Cass wondered if Rapunzel could see her internal struggle for control, if she could see Cass screaming and fighting with every ounce of her being.

Against her will, Cassandra’s hand reached out and lightly caressed Rapunzel’s cheek. In that moment, Cassandra wanted Zhan Tiri to burn.

“Please, Cass,” Rapunzel begged. “I know you’re still in there. I know you can break Zhan Tiri’s hold. Fight it.”

An ugly smirk found its way onto Cassandra’s face, and uglier words found their way through her lips. “If only you had listened, you could have saved me.”

To her horror, a spike of the black rock formed in her hands. She lifted up the black spike, holding it above the air, ready to bring it down.

_No no no no no no no no._

Out of time and out of options, Cassandra made one last desperate attempt to reach for the puppet strings. She honed in on the threads of magic and _pulled_.

For just a moment, she was able to seize control of the strings, but a moment is all she needed. Internally screaming, she focused all of her energy and whatever scraps of magic she could muster and sent the pulse through the connection.

“ _NO!_ ” Cassandra _finally_ managed to snarl, and the opal and Mindtrap erupted in brilliant blue light as Cassandra managed to short circuit the connection.

Zhan Tiri cried out in surprise, and Cassandra did not hesitate to turn and throw the black rock spike in her hand. The spike hit its target, and the damaged Mindtrap clattered to the floor. Cassandra stared at Zhan Tiri with a murderous look of her own as she trapped the sorceress in a cage of black rocks.

“It’s over, Zhan Tiri,” she snarled. “ _Stand down._ ”

Zhan Tiri only smiled, unperturbed. “Oh Cassandra, have you learned nothing from me? It’s not over until it’s _over_.”

A sudden burst of golden light sent Cassandra flying backwards. She looked up in time to see Zhan Tiri step out of the destroyed cage of rocks, triumphantly holding up her gloved right hand. Cassandra’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw the largest of the Sundrop fragments embedded on the inside of her right wrist.

Cassandra reacted quickly, attempting to cage Zhan Tiri again, but it was no use. The black rocks were destroyed by the Sundrop fragment’s magic as fast as Cassandra could form the cages.

Cassandra turned to look at the others in the room and realized that they were still trapped in black rock restraints of their own. She quickly banished them, and the others looked relieved to be free.

“Get out of here!” Cass barked.

“No!” Rapunzel cried out in response. “We’ll do this together.”

Taking advantage of Cassandra’s moment of hesitation, Zhan Tiri sent out an explosive burst of golden light that sent her flying back into the wall. The burst fell short of the raw power that Rapunzel had wielded in the black rock tower, but Zhan Tiri made up for that in focus and experience. Cassandra was painfully aware that Zhan Tiri was only using a fragment of the Sundrop's power, a fragment with power that was growing with intensity as the eclipse progressed past totality. That realization terrified Cassandra. She needed to do something to subdue Zhan Tiri, and she needed to do it quickly.

Zhan Tiri, looking pleased with her newfound power, experimentally extended her arm out in front of her. The vines in the room, which had fallen slack with the destruction of the gemstone, suddenly reared up again, coming alive with golden magic. The vines shot forward at Zhan Tiri’s command and entangled the four of them, leaving them restrained and unable to move.

“Can I be allowed to move for more than _five seconds_ without being _trapped by some weird magic thing_?” Eugene shrieked.

“No,” Zhan Tiri responded curtly.

Cassandra reacted to the onslaught of vines, cutting the four of them free with the black rocks. She immediately shot forward and went on the offense against Zhan Tiri as Eugene once again tumbled forward onto the floor, with a mumbled _“oof”_ and a series of colorful words.

Upon being freed, Varian sprang into action. While Cassandra attacked Zhan Tiri with another black rock, slicing through the golden vines that separated them, she could see Varian dive for something on the floor. He picked it up, triumphant, and Cassandra recognized the object as the portal component that Zhan Tiri had taken. She realized that it must have been the item Zhan Tiri dropped earlier, when Eugene had knocked her off balance.

Cassandra met Varian’s determined eyes, and she nodded once in understanding. He needed time to repair the portal and put the component back in, which meant Cassandra needed to keep Zhan Tiri distracted.

They were back to Plan A, and at the moment, she was far too angry to care about dooming Zhan Tiri to an eternity in an empty void. Cassandra was fresh out of sympathy.

Zhan Tiri attacked with another slew of vines, and Cassandra realized that if Varian was even going to have a chance at repairing the portal, she needed to take the battle out of this room. Cassandra steeled herself, focused in on her magic, and blasted Zhan Tiri in the direction of the balcony. Cassandra quickly sprang into action, launching herself forward with the black rocks and tackling Zhan Tiri off the balcony, much to the surprise of the sorceress.

The two of them tumbled a long way down, and Cassandra managed to break her fall with the black rocks. Zhan Tiri, using the Sundrop's magic, hovered just above the ground, scowling at Cassandra. From this distance, Cassandra noticed that the irises of Zhan Tiri’s eyes now had flecks of gold in them.

"You have made this far more difficult than it needed to be," Zhan Tiri snapped, as if speaking down to a petulant child.

"Good!" Cassandra fired back. Now that she was outside with no one else around, Cassandra did not hold back. She fired back at Zhan Tiri with the full force of the Moonstone, and Cassandra felt exhilarated by its power. She only had the opportunity to use it at its full strength a handful of times, and she was relishing doing it again.

Cassandra was vicious, hurling rock after rock at Zhan Tiri, the black rocks cutting through the ground like jagged obsidian teeth. She tried to strike her and cage her, but much to Cassandra's chagrin, Zhan Tiri managed to destroy almost all of them with the Sundrop’s magic. Cassandra did manage one good strike against her, and Zhan Tiri went flying back. The look Zhan Tiri gave her in response was murderous.

“Surely I’ve taught you better than _this_ ,” Zhan Tiri sneered. The sorceress fired back with another explosive wave of golden light, and it was Cassandra's turn to be flung backwards across the courtyard.

The impressive strength in the last blow caught Cassandra by surprise. She grit her teeth, remembering that as the eclipse progressed toward its end, the power of the fragment, and of Zhan Tiri, would only continue to intensify.

The battle was brutal, with neither Cassandra nor Zhan Tiri holding back with their magic. With each clash and burst of magic, the courtyard and surrounding area fell farther into disrepair. It was clear that Zhan Tiri was going for maximum damage here.

However, it soon became evident that the power of the Sundrop fragment was not limitless. While Cassandra managed to send strike after strike, it looked like Zhan Tiri was struggling to keep going at the same rate. The sorceress grit her teeth, looking displeased by the limitation of the fragment.

"Not so powerful now, huh?" Cassandra mocked as Zhan Tiri was a bit slower to escape the latest strike. Zhan Tiri stared back with a murderous glance. "It's the fragment, isn't it? One piece of the Sundrop can't stand up to the entirety of the Moonstone, no matter how good you are."

"You are right about that, I suppose,” Zhan Tiri acknowledged, a bit reluctantly. Then her eyes flicked up to the balcony before looking back at Cassandra, the smirk returning to her face. “But thankfully, that can be amended."

Cassandra did not like that statement.

With one last look at Cassandra, Zhan Tiri fired at her with one shockingly strong burst of magic. As Cassandra stumbled, Zhan Tiri raised herself up toward the balcony, using the vines that she had utilized for her earlier entrance.

As the vines pulled Zhan Tiri upwards, Cassandra cursed and began to follow her up with the black rocks, hoping that she had managed to buy Varian enough time to finish his repairs.

Cassandra was close on Zhan Tiri’s heels, but not close enough. She watched as Zhan Tiri disappeared inside seconds before Cassandra reached the balcony herself. Once she had hauled herself up onto the balcony and ran inside, Cassandra’s eyes immediately went to the last place she had seen the other fragments. To her relief, the fragments were no longer there. She was glad that at least one of the others had the good sense to pick up the other shards…

…and place them right back down, on a side table directly next to the portal, in plain sight of Zhan Tiri. Cassandra wasn’t sure why she was surprised. She _knew_ that no one here had any sense.

Within the blink of an eye, Zhan Tiri had trapped Rapunzel, Eugene, and Varian within the golden vines once again. They were standing right by the lever to the portal, looking surprised by Zhan Tiri’s abrupt return. Not even a moment later, Cassandra found herself trapped in the vines as well. They all watched in horror as Zhan Tiri approached the other shards of the Sundrop. The amused smile had fallen from her face, leaving her with an expression of irritation.

“I suppose I should commend you for your bravery, you stupid, foolish children. You have put up more of a fight than I had anticipated,” Zhan Tiri said harshly.

As Zhan Tiri bent down to pick up the other fragments, Cassandra managed to once again cut herself free of the vines and lunge at the sorceress, hoping to knock her down before she could scoop up the rest of the shards.

But Cassandra was slightly too late. By the time she had managed to tackle Zhan Tiri to the ground, the sorceress had already managed to pick up other fragments.

Cassandra once again tried to land another strike against Zhan Tiri, and found herself bound up in the golden vines again. Except this time, she found that she could not break free. She attempted to lash out with the power of the Moonstone, but the vines reformed faster than she could slice through them.

She was trapped, and this time, the Sundrop’s power _burned._ The vines pinned her to the ground, some of them even cutting into her skin through the black rock armor.

It had been a long time since Cassandra had felt pain, and the places where the vines made contact with her skin _screamed_ with it. Her vision sang with stars and inched toward blackness at the severity of it. In spite of the scorching pain, she managed to bite down and suppress a scream. She refused to give Zhan Tiri the satisfaction.

Still, she couldn't suppress a hiss of pain that slipped out, and through her clouded vision she could see Zhan Tiri standing above her with a triumphant grin.

"I admire your courage, Cassandra, but I'm afraid the game is over," Zhan Tiri stated with a tone of finality.

For a moment, Cassandra perceived the room with surprising clarity. She could see Varian, Rapunzel, and Eugene positioned several feet behind the portal, struggling against the vines that restrained and suffocated them. She could see the level of destruction that had already occurred, and knew that with Zhan Tiri’s increasing power, there would only be more to come.

And most importantly, she noticed that herself and Zhan Tiri were positioned perfectly in front of the repaired portal.

Cassandra knew what she had to do, and she knew what it meant for herself.

“Funny. I thought it wasn’t over until it’s _over_ ,” Cassandra spat, echoing Zhan Tiri’s earlier comment. The opal in her chest crackled with blue lightning, the only indication of what she was about to do.

Through the onslaught of pain, Cassandra focused the power of the Moonstone entirely on her course of action, the opal in her chest crackling with blue magic. From behind Zhan Tiri, a single blunt, black rock shot out precisely at the lever, knocking it into the ‘on’ position.

The gears to the portal instantaneously whirled to life, and a moment later the gateway opened in a flash of white light. It began to pull everything positioned in front of it with incredible force.

The look of surprise on Zhan Tiri's face was priceless. Clearly, she hadn't noticed that they were positioned in front of the portal. She tried to fight back against the vacuum of the portal, but the battle was over before it had even begun. Without anything to hold onto, Zhan Tiri was pulled in by the force of the portal, and Cassandra watched as she disappeared from this plane of existence.

In the absence of Zhan Tiri’s magic, the vines that held Cassandra down went slack. She could hear the others call out her name, but Cassandra was resigned to her fate.

Cassandra was pulled into the portal, and the world plunged into darkness.


	20. The Lost Realm

Darkness.

_Nothingness._

Upon her return to consciousness, Cassandra was immediately struck by the sheer _emptiness_ of the realm she now found herself in. There was no sound except her own heartbeat, and nothing to see beyond the dim blue light that emanated from the Moonstone, the only indication that her eyes were even open. Even the act of breathing felt difficult; the air itself seemed to carry a sense of absence. The lack of any external stimuli was disorienting, a sharp contrast from the absolute chaos she had just experienced in Corona.

Pulling herself up into a seated position, Cassandra attempted to discern her surroundings but failed to perceive anything beyond herself. There was nothing _to_ perceive; the void extended endlessly in all directions, carrying nothing within it except that terrible sense of oppressive absence. The emptiness of it all was horrible, unnerving, desolate, _suffocating_ -

Cassandra took a deep breath to steady herself against the dread and anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her. The implications of what she had done were beginning to catch up with her. In the desperation of the moment, Cassandra had truly believed that sending herself through the portal was the right choice, that it would be worth the sacrifice if it meant that she could spare them all the worst of Zhan Tiri’s wrath. But now that she was here, confronted with the reality of being trapped in a boundless void, Cassandra was beginning to have some regrets.

Not wanting to dwell on her situation any longer, Cassandra began a shaky attempt to stand up. She pressed her hands firmly down on the ground - not that she could _see_ any ground, but _something_ had to be beneath her - and shifted her weight onto her feet.

Her effort to stand was interrupted by a sudden burst of golden light that slammed into her chest and sent her crashing backwards onto the ground. In the brief moment of illumination, Cassandra looked up and flinched when she found herself staring directly into Zhan Tiri’s face. To say that the sorceress looked furious would be the understatement of the century; her expression was contorted with rage, her eyes burning with a wildness and ferocity that Cassandra had never seen before. The composure Zhan Tiri previously possessed had fractured entirely, an observation that filled Cassandra with apprehension.

Anticipating the next strike, Cassandra dove out of the way before the second blow could hit her. The shot was far off of its mark, and Cassandra noted that it lacked the usual focus and precision that she had come to associate with Zhan Tiri. It was clear that the sorceress was blindly lashing out.

“Do you have any idea what it is you’ve done?” Zhan Tiri’s voice cut through the darkness. The sound of her voice, like all sounds within the boundless void, had a muffled quality to it, as if the atmosphere of this realm was ill-suited to carrying sounds within it. Zhan Tiri’s sentence was punctuated with another wave of golden light hurled in Cassandra’s general direction, and once again, Cass dodged the poorly aimed blow. The force of Cassandra’s own anger returned in a crashing wave.

“What _I’ve_ done?” Cassandra snapped, furious. Another blast of magic, another dodge to the side. “You think I _wanted_ to do this? You didn’t leave me with a choice!”

“This was very much a choice!” Zhan Tiri spat. “You’re not quite good at making those, are you?”

Fury built up within Cassandra, the memory of vines and the Sundrop’s searing pain still fresh in her mind. She lashed out against Zhan Tiri with a bolt of her own magic, but it was a literal shot in the dark. The moment the space was illuminated by the flashing blue light of the Moonstone’s power, Cassandra could see that her aim had missed Zhan Tiri by a wide margin. She growled in frustration.

“Don’t act like _I’m_ the bad guy here,” Cassandra shot back venomously. “ _You’re_ the one who was about to burn a kingdom to the ground. _You’re_ the one who used literal _mind control_ on me!”

Zhan Tiri made no attempt to conceal the contempt in her voice as she spoke. “ _You_ are the one who betrayed me. Your little _stunt_ left me with no other option.”

“That’s your justification?” Cassandra sputtered. “Are you kidding me? You took away my free will, and that’s all you have to say for yourself? Do you have any idea what that feels like, being a prisoner in your _own mind_?”

“There are far worse prisons,” Zhan Tiri responded with a voice of ice. Cassandra’s blood was boiling at the audacity.

“Oho, really?” Cass rounded on her, incredulous. “Worse than being trapped in your own body, your own mind, unable to control your own actions? Not being able to do anything, except just watch helplessly?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Zhan Tiri responded without missing a beat. Cassandra was taken aback by the confidence with which she spoke. “I promise you, this prison is _far_ worse. It may not seem like it now, but give it time. You’ll find the emptiness carries a _weight_.”

“I don’t believe you,” Cass responded evenly. Zhan Tiri laughed darkly, an unsettling sound that bordered on unhinged. In the dim lighting provided by the Sundrop and Moonstone, to which Cassandra’s eyes were beginning to adjust, she could finally discern the barely concealed rage on Zhan Tiri’s face.

“Oh my dear, you don’t have to believe me. You get the pleasure of finding out for yourself,” Zhan Tiri spat, and promptly turned her back on Cassandra. She stormed off until she was almost out of Cassandra’s (still limited) line of sight, and Cassandra could hear the soft, muted sound of her footsteps as she began to pace back and forth in anger.

Cassandra turned around, too angry to even look in Zhan Tiri’s direction. An oppressive silence settled heavily over them, and Cassandra sat back down on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest as she attempted to collect her thoughts.

At the forefront of her mind were her feelings of anger. Cassandra was downright _furious_.

First and foremost, she was angry with Zhan Tiri for what she had done. The sorceress had stripped Cassandra of her free will, turned her into a puppet and pulled her strings, forcing her into attacking Corona and nearly killing Rapunzel. Cassandra shuddered to think what would have happened if she hadn’t managed to break free of the Mindtrap’s influence.

But as furious as she was with Zhan Tiri, Cassandra found that she was also angry with herself. Angry that she didn’t do more to stop Zhan Tiri _before_ the eclipse. Angry that her last minute plan to stop Zhan Tiri during the eclipse failed so spectacularly. Angry that trying so damn hard to find an alternate solution to spare Zhan Tiri cost them _both_ a one-way ticket into this horrible, horrible void.

Maybe she should have committed whole-heartedly to her original plan of sending Zhan Tiri through the portal, Cassandra thought bitterly. It certainly would have been simpler, and would have prevented the destruction that had already been wrought.

The only consolation Cassandra could find was that she managed to spare Corona, and Rapunzel, from the worst of Zhan Tiri’s wrath. That was the goal from the start, wasn’t it? To protect her kingdom from an ancient evil, no matter the personal cost?

A year ago she had thought that _this_ was her destiny.

What a cruel joke.

Cassandra sorely missed the certainty she felt back then, when she had believed that Corona was the ultimate good and Zhan Tiri was the ultimate evil. She had thought that this endeavor would prove to her kingdom once and for all that she was a capable warrior, a _hero_. But it had done the opposite; she had unwittingly become public enemy number one. And, ironically, sacrificing herself to stop Zhan Tiri might be the one thing that redeemed her in the eyes of the kingdom.

_Nevermind that I haven’t done anything that needs redeeming,_ Cassandra thought to herself bitterly.

But the more Cassandra mulled it over, the more certain she became that if put in the same position, she would have made the same choice. Despite everything, she could not stand by and leave her home defenseless, not when lives were at stake, not when she was the only one who could _do_ something about it. Seeing Rapunzel so close to death had scared her beyond belief. If Rapunzel lived, and the lives of those in the kingdom were spared, then Cassandra believed that her sacrifice was worth it.

_It had to be worth it._

She just wished that she had been able to spare herself and Zhan Tiri along with the rest of them.

With time, Cassandra’s thoughts began to quiet as her anger gave way to anxiety. The unnatural silence and darkness of her surroundings were beginning to weigh heavily on her. If it weren’t for the faint glow of the Moonstone and Sundrop, and the muted sound of Zhan Tiri’s footsteps as she continued to pace, Cassandra would have sworn that the realm had deprived her of her senses entirely.

She was beginning to understand what Zhan Tiri meant about the emptiness carrying a weight.

On top of it all, Cassandra wasn’t sure if having Zhan Tiri trapped alongside her made things better or worse. While Zhan Tiri’s presence provided a distraction from the overwhelming nothingness, Cassandra was still furious with her, and she knew that the feeling was mutual. The sound of Zhan Tiri’s continued pacing only fueled Cassandra’s irritation.

Cass was preparing to snap at her to _cut it out_ , but the retort quickly died on her lips when she caught sight of Zhan Tiri’s expression through the dim lighting.

Cassandra wasn’t sure what she had expected to see reflected in Zhan Tiri’s face, but she wasn’t expecting…this. The sorceress had never looked so human; her usual composed and self-assured mask was absent, leaving something akin to panic on her face. For the first time since Cassandra had known her, Zhan Tiri’s face was an open book, and in those pages Cassandra could read frustration, anxiety, hurt, anger, despair, even _fear_. It was clear that being back in this place was affecting her deeply, and Cassandra couldn’t help the pity that surged in her chest.

She was suddenly reminded that Zhan Tiri had spent two millennia in this prison, alone with only the silence and the darkness to keep her company. Cassandra shuddered as she tried to imagine what it was like living like this for two thousand years. It was _unthinkable_. The more she dwelled on it, the more she could understand why Zhan Tiri was so hellbent on her quest for vengeance. The thoughts of escape and vengeance were likely the only thing to fuel her and distrac her from the hopelessness of it all. The oppressive isolation of this realm was certainly enough to drive anyone over the edge…

…and Cassandra had sent her right back to it. Guilt flooded through her at the thought.

Not that she would have done anything differently if backed into that same corner. As sympathetic as she was to Zhan Tiri’s plight, Cassandra was not willing to risk the lives of others for that sympathy. But, still; she wished that it hadn’t come to this.

After five minutes or five hours, Cassandra couldn’t tell, Zhan Tiri had given up on pacing. She sat on the ground across from Cassandra, pointedly ignoring her presence, until Cassandra decided she couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“What exactly is this place?” Cassandra wondered aloud, half out of a desperate need to break the silence and half out of genuine curiosity. She did not miss the contemptuous look the sorceress gave her in response.

“Regretting your decision already, are we?” Zhan Tiri retorted, her tone venomous. When Cassandra did not respond with anything more than a pointed look, Zhan Tiri scowled. “If you must know, this place is called the Lost Realm. Appropriately named, considering that this is a space that was lost between worlds. It’s a void, really; a place out of time and separate from the physical realm, filled with nothing but empty space.

“Demanitus and I had discovered it in our research,” Zhan Tiri added, bitterly. “Its existence was purely theoretical, at first. I hadn’t realized Demanitus had managed to connect the realms until I was halfway through the portal.”

“The portal,” Cassandra murmured, a question occurring to her. “Couldn’t Varian or someone open it back up and bring us back?”

Zhan Tiri barked a laugh, a harsh and bitter sound. “No such luck. That portal was designed as a one-way ticket. Demanitus intended to make my freedom impossible which meant that he could leave no way for me to return.”

“But there _is_ a way to return,” Cassandra said, a realization dawning on her. “You managed to get out before using the drops…which we have in here, with us.”

Zhan Tiri stared at her, as if trying to figure out what game Cassandra was playing. “Yes, the drops are our best chance at escaping. But it will take using the Sundrop and Moonstone in tandem to free us from this realm, and I suspect that you’re still too stuck in your _heroic_ antics to even consider it. Or has this place broken your resolve already?”

Cassandra grit her teeth. “I…won’t help you escape. Not if it means Corona is destroyed.”

Zhan Tiri stared at her. “You do understand that for as long as I am trapped in here, you will be as well. We escape together, or we don’t escape at all.”

“I understand that.”

Zhan Tiri’s stare soured into a glower. “Then you are a fool, blinded by your misguided loyalty. Why would you go to such lengths to defend a kingdom that has been so quick to turn its back on you? They have done nothing to deserve your protection, and they are not worth your sacrifice.”

"I know that!” Cassandra exploded. “But if I hadn’t done anything, innocent people were going to get hurt.”

Zhan Tiri laughed at that sentiment. "Innocent? They are _all_ complicit. Or have you already forgotten how the people of Corona have vilified you? They were prepared to send you to your death. Every single person in that crowd would stand there and watch you burn, and they would cheer!”

That comment bothered Cassandra, because she wasn't entirely wrong. The memories of the past week were still fresh in her mind. The wanted posters, the play advertisements depicting her as a monster, the look of fear in everyone’s eyes when the cloak had been ripped off, the way people ran screaming at the sight of her, the immediate reaction of the guards-

"I-I haven’t forgotten. But still; I couldn’t stand by and let you destroy them all.”

“You couldn’t?” Zhan Tiri asked, incredulous. “Funny, I seem to recall that you were perfectly fine with letting Corona burn _not even two days ago_. Unless the fervor with which you helped me plan Corona’s downfall was faked, but I sincerely doubt that. You and I both know you wear your heart on your sleeve.”

"That's because it wasn’t faked," Cassandra begrudgingly admitted. “I was angry. And I _still_ am angry. I want them to pay for what they did, yes, but not like this. I don’t want them to _die_ for it.”

“So you decided to change your mind and imprison me here for all of eternity instead, just like my dear old friend Demanitus? _Well done_ , Cassandra. I’d have half a mind to make you pay for what you’ve done, but considering that you’re here with me, you’ve already done my job for me.”

"Wait, you think I _wanted_ to send you here?" Cassandra asked, dumbfounded. " _Damn it_ , Zhan Tiri, this is the outcome I was trying to avoid!"

"Considering where we are right now, I am finding that quite hard to believe," Zhan Tiri shot back with a glare. Cassandra wanted to scream in frustration.

“I didn’t plan on sending either one of us here!”

“I’m sorry, did you or did you not have a role in constructing that portal?” Zhan Tiri asked point blank. “Were you or were you not conspiring against me with the alchemist _this whole time_? Because from my perspective it looks like you put him up to the task, then changed your mind when your kingdom tried to have you killed, then changed your mind _again_ the second you laid eyes on your pathetic princess. Now tell me, am I wrong? And do not lie to me; we are _well_ past that.”

"Fine, yes. I’m the one who put Varian up to it,” Cassandra admitted. “ _Happy_? But sending you through the portal wasn’t the plan. It was supposed to be a last resort, in case I couldn’t talk you down or find another way to stop you from destroying Corona.”

"In that case, my _condolences_ that I forced your hand," Zhan Tiri sneered.

"Oh, don't act like you didn’t do the exact same thing. You also had your insurance with the Mindtrap," Cassandra spat. Zhan Tiri opened her mouth to protest, but paused when she realized that she could not argue with that point. They both had their doomsday options, and they had both utilized them against the other.

"If it's any consolation, I truly did not want to use it," was the response Zhan Tiri settled on.

_Yeah great, thanks, that makes me feel_ so _much better,_ Cassandra thought to herself bitterly, but made an attempt to reign in her anger.

"And you think I wanted to use the portal? Because I _didn’t_. Of course I didn’t want to send you back here. You haven’t shut up for _months_ about how we’re not so different. How could I feel good about sending you back to your eternal prison? What happened in the past was terrible, and you’re not wrong to be angry about it. You didn’t deserve that betrayal, and in spite of everything,” _and probably against my better judgment,_ “I _still_ don’t think you deserve to be trapped in here for an eternity.

“I tried talking you out of it, and I tried to think of literally any other plan that didn’t involve using the portal. That’s why I destroyed the gemstone instead! I thought if I could destroy the source of your power, then I would be able to stop you, but clearly that didn’t go to plan.”

“And you _genuinely_ thought that waiting until the eclipse was upon us to do anything was the best course of action?” Zhan Tiri asked, baffled. “ _That_ was your brilliant plan?”

“It…was less of a plan and more of a spur of the moment decision,” Cassandra muttered with a wince, and Zhan Tiri stared at her in utter bafflement, as if she could not begin to comprehend the inner workings of Cassandra’s mind.

Uncomfortable under Zhan Tiri’s scrutinizing stare, Cassandra continued. “So believe me when I say that I _do_ want to get us out of here. Both of us. I really do. But not if the first thing you do is try to destroy Corona again. I’m prepared to stay here until you change your mind.”

“Then I suppose we will sit here until your resolve breaks,” Zhan Tiri said derisively.

“Are you serious right now?” Cassandra snapped, her irritation once again beginning to catch up with her. “If you just promised _not to destroy Corona_ , we could leave this place right now. You would rather stay here in this _literal void_?”

“Don’t give yourself so much credit,” Zhan Tiri scoffed. “Your resolve will break faster than you think it will, and I am nothing if not patient.”

“ _Why_ are you so dead set on watching Corona burn? Can’t you just leave them alone and move on with your life?”

“ _They took my life from me_ ,” Zhan Tiri snarled, and Cassandra was taken aback by the sudden vulnerability in her voice. “They decided that just because I possessed power, that I was too dangerous to be left free. So they threw me into their prisons, and when that was not enough to hold me, my only friend took it upon himself to send me to this place for two thousand years.”

Zhan Tiri took a shaky breath in an effort to regain her composure before continuing. “I promised Demanitus the destruction of his beloved kingdom. He needs to pay for what he has done to me, and I do not intend to go back on my word.”

“So what? You’re going to destroy an entire kingdom, destroy lives, just to _spite Demanitus_? Zhan Tiri, Demanitus is _dead_ ,” Cassandra snapped, and Zhan Tiri flinched at the heat in her tone.

“I-”

“Nope. _My_ turn to talk, you’re going to listen to _me_ now. All of this keeps coming back to Demanitus. You’re obsessed with getting revenge on him, and for good reason. I get it; what he did was horrible. He betrayed you, took your life away from you, and you want him to pay for it. And if it makes you feel better, you _did_ make him suffer. You scared him so badly that he spent two thousand years hiding from you inside a _monkey_.”

“ _Good_.”

“My point is that Demanitus. Is. _Dead_. You can’t exact revenge on him, not anymore. You can’t make him pay. You can’t hold him accountable for what he did. Even if you destroyed Corona, it won’t change anything. You won’t get the satisfaction of Demanitus knowing he lost; he hasn’t lived to see it.

“But what you _can_ do is take your life back. You told me that you’ve dedicated your life to studying magic, that this quest is your destiny. Why put that destiny on hold? Demanitus made it his goal to derail you from achieving your life’s work, and every minute you spend focusing on exacting vengeance on him is another minute where he is _continuing_ to derail you, even in death. You’ve given him power over you, and now you have a chance to take that power back. You want to actually get revenge on Demanitus? Then _let go_ and forget about him. Finish your quest, continue to do the things that Demanitus prevented you from doing. You have the Sundrop now. Isn’t that what you wanted? Isn’t that what you _still_ want?”

“Of course it is,” Zhan Tiri responded. A pause. “But I made a promise.” Her voice was soft when she responded, holding only a fraction of the conviction it did earlier. Cassandra could sense that she was getting somewhere with this, and decided to keep pushing.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, you kind of kept your promise. You _did_ do some real damage on a pretty sizable part of Corona,” Cassandra said with a wry smile. Zhan Tiri snorted at that, but it seemed to mollify her, at least somewhat. “But seriously, Zhan. I don’t want you trapped in here anymore than I want to be trapped in here. I want you to live your life. But I also want to protect my home.

“So just-I guess all I’m asking is for you to just…not destroy Corona. You can take the Sundrop and leave, _I don’t care_. Just promise to leave Corona alone, and I won’t hesitate to help us get out of here. We’ll figure a way out together, and you’ll be free to just _live your life_. You have a chance to start over and rebuild your legacy, undo the damage Demanitus did. You can go out and continue to learn everything you’ve missed in the past two thousand years. You can go back and restore the Great Tree.”

At the mention of the Great Tree, Cassandra suddenly remembered the seed she had picked up from its ruins all those months ago, still kept safely within the pocket of her armor. She now pulled it out and presented it to Zhan Tiri, whose expression softened in surprise at the sight of it.

“You told me once that we write our own destinies,” Cassandra said with an easy smile, gesturing for her to take the seed. “Why not take your own advice and fulfill the one you wrote for yourself all those years ago?”

Zhan Tiri gingerly reached out, silently accepting the seed with a look of reverence. She was uncharacteristically silent as she examined it in her hand, her eyes occasionally flicking between the seed and the shards of the Sundrop. Having said her piece, Cassandra looked away to give Zhan Tiri time to process and mull over her words.

Cassandra wondered if she had pushed too hard, but considering that the sorceress had not yet lashed out at her, she was cautiously optimistic. She could only hope that Zhan Tiri had listened to her, and that Cassandra had said enough to make her at least consider going off the warpath.

They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, Zhan Tiri idling toying with the seed in her hand as Cassandra stared out into the void. As Zhan Tiri continued to mull things over, Cassandra found herself increasingly unnerved by the Lost Realm. She was starting to realize that her eyes would never fully adjust to the darkness here; this was an emptiness that was never meant to be perceived by human eyes.

Cassandra was wondering what else she could say to get Zhan Tiri to _back off_ so the two of them could finally get out of this awful place, when the sorceress beat her to it and broke the stillness.

“Alright,” Zhan Tiri whispered quietly.

“Alright what?”

A beat of silence. “If you really are so insistent on defending that dreadful kingdom, then I will leave Corona alone.”

Cassandra blinked in surprise, not quite believing that she heard her correctly. “Wait. Really?”

Zhan Tiri responded in kind with a withering glare. “Would you like me to change my mind? Because that can still be arranged.”

“I want your word,” Cassandra responded bluntly.

Zhan Tiri’s expression soured, resignation clear on her face. “Fine. You have my word. I will let Corona be, _but_ , only on the condition that I am left alone, and that the portal, along with the plans for its construction, are destroyed. I want a guarantee that my freedom is permanent.”

“That-that I can work with. I can do that much,” Cassandra responded, relieved. She still didn’t quite believe it, and desperately wanted to ask Zhan Tiri what had changed her mind, but she didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Alright then. If that matter is settled and _I have your cooperation_ ,” Zhan Tiri looked at Cassandra pointedly, “then let’s figure our way out of this.”

“Fine by me,” Cassandra said, relieved that they could work on a way out of this awful place. “So what? Do we just use the drops against each other, like I did with Rapunzel back in the black rock tower?”

“That is the idea,” Zhan Tiri responded idly, but Cassandra did not miss the note of hesitation in her voice nor the doubt that crossed her face.

“What’s with that look?” Cassandra questioned.

“I…am not confident that clashing the drops will be enough to free us this time,” Zhan Tiri admitted with a frown.

“What?” Cassandra asked, taken aback. “Why? It was enough last time.”

“Yes, but last time was different. There were already cracks in my prison, for one thing. But more importantly, the drops were used from _outside_ the Lost Realm last time. Like most prisons, it is far easier to unlock the door from the outside than it is to open it from within. I suspect that breaking out from the inside will require substantially more power.“ A beat of silence. “But…it _could_ be enough. We won’t know until we try.”

Cassandra agreed that it was worth a shot, but she would be lying if Zhan Tiri’s uncertainty didn’t fill her with a sense of dread. Cassandra stood up in preparation, and without thinking offered her hand to Zhan Tiri to help her stand. Surprised, Zhan Tiri accepted it and pulled herself to her feet. They stood there for a moment, and Cassandra looked at her surroundings with a frown, trying to figure out how their escape would even work.

In preparation of clashing with the full power of the Sundrop and Moonstone, they took several paces away from each other, such that Cass could barely make out Zhan Tiri’s silhouette in the darkness. Once in position, Zhan Tiri counted down, and on her cue they called upon the full power of the drops, unleashing them against each other.

The void was illuminated with blinding explosions of golden and blue light. Cassandra pushed herself as she focused on the power of the Moonstone, focusing on the blue bolts of concentrated magic as they clashed with the golden waves of the Sundrop. There were no black rocks for her to pull from the ground here; she could only call upon the raw magic of the Moonstone, which was every bit as powerful as the Sundrop’s own light magic.

Cassandra struggled to hold her own against Zhan Tiri’s onslaught. She could feel the golden magic press harder against the blue, and Cassandra grit her teeth as the Moonstone’s power was pushed back towards her.

"Don't hold back, Cassandra," Zhan Tiri admonished.

"I'm not!" Cassandra snapped. Still, she fought to push the magic past its limit, and was surprised when she found that she could. With the extra push, the magic of the Moonstone once again met the Sundrop’s power halfway.

Cassandra thought that they were just blindly clashing with magic, but the more she focused and became attuned to it, she could feel that the combined power was striking at _something_ in this realm _._ It felt almost as if they were trying to chip away at an impenetrable wall.

Encouraged, the two of them pushed harder, and harder, until the force suddenly ricocheted off of whatever barrier they were up against. The two of them were sent flying backwards. Cassandra groaned when she hit the ground.

Zhan Tiri was the first to bounce back, with no small amount of fiery determination.

“ _Again._ ”

At Zhan Tiri’s insistence, they tried again. And again. And again. They clashed with each other until even Zhan Tiri grew exhausted with the effort. They attempted for what felt like ages, and despite their best efforts, they could not even make a dent in the barrier.

“ _This is useless_ ,” Cassandra snapped after what felt like the millionth failed attempt, feeling utterly exhausted and defeated.

“This is what I was afraid of,” Zhan Tiri said sullenly, looking every bit as tired as Cassandra felt. “Using the drops against each other is not enough to escape.”

Dread coursed through Cassandra at the implication. “So we’re trapped here.”

“Not necessarily,” Zhan Tiri said. She didn’t sound hopeless, but rather, resigned. “We were hitting _something_. I suppose with consistent effort, we should be able to crack the walls of this prison. But I’m afraid that would be terribly time and energy intensive.” A pause. “And it may not be our only option.”

Cassandra looked at her, skeptical. “What aren’t you saying?”

“The drops on their own aren’t enough to get us out,” Zhan Tiri said slowly. “But the drops _united_ most certainly are.”

_Oh_.

“Wouldn’t combining them destroy whoever wields it?” Cassandra asked with a frown.

“Under normal circumstances, yes. That power would most certainly destroy any one person who attempted to wield it. But _two_ people wielding the united drops might stand a chance. And in this place, we cannot die. There is no life, and no death. Quite frankly, the Lost Realm is the ideal place to wield the ultimate power without facing the repercussions,” Zhan Tiri explained with bitter amusement, seeing the irony in the situation. “Reuniting the drops would give us a few moments of unlimited power before it self-destructs, and the power returns itself to the heavens. If that can’t free us, quite frankly nothing we do in this place ever will.”

“So that’s why the hesitation? Reuniting the Sundrop and Moonstone will destroy them for good,” Cassandra surmised, and Zhan Tiri nodded, a grave expression on her face. She could understand why Zhan Tiri was hesitant; they would each have to relinquish their own power to escape. “You’d be sacrificing your life’s work.”

“Are you daft?” Zhan Tiri snapped suddenly. Cassandra’s surprised look caused Zhan Tiri’s expression to twist into a look that was equal parts disbelief and pity. “Of course I don’t want to see the drops destroyed, but it’s not just that, you sweet, foolish child. You haven’t forgotten that the Moonstone is the only thing keeping you alive, have you?”

Cassandra winced. In all honesty, that fact had entirely slipped from her mind. In the chaos of everything, the petrified decay in her arm had become the least of her problems.

“It…may have slipped my mind,” Cassandra admitted sheepishly, moving her left hand to gently touch her right forearm. It took her a moment to work up the courage to ask her next question. “What happens if I give up the Moonstone?”

She looked up at Zhan Tiri, anxious and afraid of the answer, and the look of pity in her eyes made Cassandra feel even worse.

“The moment you became the vessel for the Moonstone’s power, it conferred you with the gift of apparent immortality. Essentially, the Moonstone has frozen you in time, and by extent the decay in your arm was petrified as well. Should you give up the opal, the loss of its magic will be a shock to your system. From this, you will recover. But you will no longer be frozen in time, and the rot in your arm will continue to spread as it did before.”

“How long?” Cassandra asked quietly.

“Until the decay reaches a vital organ, I suppose.”

Cassandra thought to where the decay had stopped, just above her elbow. It had taken only a couple of months to reach that spot from halfway up her forearm. She tried to figure out how long the rot would take to reach her chest cavity, if it continued at that rate.

Dread filled her as she finished the mental math. “So a year.”

Zhan Tiri looked at her with genuine sympathy. “As I mentioned, uniting the drops isn’t our only option. We could continue to try and chip away at the walls of this prison, but there is no guarantee that it will work.”

The thought of spending any more time uselessly attacking the void’s walls was unbearable. There had to be some other way, something else that they could do.

“Couldn’t you use the Sundrop to heal my arm?” Cassandra asked Zhan Tiri. The sad expression on her face was confirmation of the answer.

“Not in the Lost Realm, I’m afraid. As I’ve said, this is a place separate from life and death. Nothing can decay, but nothing can be healed, either.”

So those were Cassandra's options; chip away at a boundless void for possibly millennia in hopes of escape, or get out and maybe have a year to live.

It was horribly unfair. But still; Cassandra knew her preference.

"I'd rather take the year out there then to spend forever in here," Cassandra said in resignation.

"Are you quite certain?” Zhan Tiri asked, and Cassandra was surprised to find genuine concern reflected in her eyes. She fixed Cassandra with a serious expression. “Don’t make this decision lightly."

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

“Wait,” Zhan Tiri said, an idea occurring to her. Cassandra watched curiously as Zhan Tiri dug into her bag, and after a moment of searching, she pulled out a vial of something. Cassandra recognized it as one of the many things they had taken from the Spire. “I don’t know if this will help. It might, it might not. It’s a tonic that was designed to temporarily negate the effects of magic. It’s not a cure by any means, but it might be able to slow the spread. Take it to your alchemist; he may be able to replicate the formula.”

Cassandra accepted it, surprised by the gesture. "Thank you."

Zhan Tiri only nodded in response with a solemn smile. They stood there in silence for a moment as Cassandra tucked the vial safely away in her own bag.

"Alright,” Cassandra said gravely. “Let's just do this before I change my mind.”

“If you’re certain about this,” Zhan Tiri responded. Cassandra nodded, and with the confirmation, Zhan Tiri hesitantly gathered the shards of the Sundrop and placed them in the palm of her hand. Following Zhan Tiri’s lead, Cassandra moved her hand to touch the opal that rested on her chest. She hesitated for a moment, lightly tracing the smooth surface of the Moonstone with her fingers. Reluctantly, she grabbed it tightly and took the opal into her hand. The stone protested slightly at the action, equally reluctant to part, but Cassandra managed to push against its slight resistance. She found that as long as she held onto the Moonstone, she was still tethered to its magic.

With the opal resting in the palm of her hand, she looked up at Zhan Tiri for direction.

"When we combine the drops, we will only have a few moments to wield its power. Whatever happens, focus first and foremost on using that power to crack the barrier, just as we did earlier. Should we succeed and the prison shatters around us, focus on the place where you would like to return. You should be able to direct yourself there,” Zhan Tiri explained. The sorceress extended her hand in front of her, the Sundrop easily resting on her palm. “Whenever you are ready, take my hand.”

“Got it,” Cassandra said. As she looked up and made eye contact with Zhan Tiri, she was suddenly struck by the realization that this was probably goodbye. She didn’t know how she felt about that, so she opted not to say anything at all. Zhan Tiri must have come to the same realization, because her expression shifted into an easy smirk as she regarded Cassandra.

"When Corona turns it back on you again, my dear, you'll know where to find me," Zhan Tiri remarked.

Cassandra snorted at the sentiment, but she couldn’t help the small smile that made its way to her face. “Noted.”

On that note, Cassandra reached out with the Moonstone and clasped Zhan Tiri's hand, closing their hands tightly around the Sundrop and Moonstone as they made contact.

The effect was instant. Brilliant light exploded out from the unification of the drops, the sheer power of it knocking the wind out of Cassandra. She instinctively went to release the drop, but Zhan Tiri grabbed her hand tighter before she could do so.

"Don't you dare let go of it," she hissed through the explosive power, and Cassandra obeyed.

As instructed, Cassandra closed her eyes and tried to focus the power of the combined drops on breaking through the wall, but it was profoundly difficult. The power that she wielded was beyond comparison to anything she had ever experienced before, and it was incredibly overwhelming, even with Zhan Tiri wielding it in conjunction. It was clear that she was not capable of acting as a vessel for a power of this magnitude, at least not for long; it felt as if her body wanted to shrivel up and dissipate under the immensity of it all. Fortunately, with Zhan Tiri’s aid, she managed to push through it all and _focus_ , doing her best to direct the power at whatever barrier it was they were striking earlier.

All of this likely only lasted a moment, but to Cassandra, it felt like an eternity. With one last blow directed at the barrier, Cassandra could _finally_ feel it give way.

Brilliant white light filled the space, and the

whole

world

_cracked._

* * *

Cassandra blinked and found herself suddenly standing in Rapunzel's room, completely disoriented. The scene before her didn't feel quite real, but that was because Cassandra herself felt quite unreal at the moment.

She was standing in Rapunzel's room, or in the ruins of it, anyway. It was every bit as destroyed as it was when Cassandra had abruptly disappeared into the Lost Realm. She could see the portal in front of her, and could see Varian crouched by the lever. He was frantically tinkering with it, Lance sitting beside him calmly trying to distract him.

In the middle of the room she could see Rapunzel and Eugene standing with a small gathering of people, in what appeared to be a debrief. Rapunzel looked devastated, holding on tightly to Eugene who also looked affected. They were speaking with her father, who looked grief stricken and disbelieving. Edmund was also among the group, along with Nigel and a smattering of other guards and advisers.

Cassandra only had a brief moment to process the scene in front of her before the flash of light that accompanied her arrival captured the attention of everyone else in the room. In an instant, everyone’s heads snapped in her direction, and she could see their shock clear as day.

"Cassandra?!" Rapunzel gasped, as if seeing a ghost.

"Hey Raps," Cassandra responded with a dopey grin.

All at once Cassandra felt her body betray her. The Moonstone’s magic had left her entirely, leaving herself empty and hollow and unsupported without it. The shock of its absence caught up with her suddenly, and her legs gave out from under her.

The world around Cassandra fell away as she collapsed into unconsciousness, but it was not without a sense of relief.

* * *

For some unknown amount of time, Cassandra found herself teetering on the brink of consciousness. It was as if she was suspended underwater, and when the current carried her closer to the surface, she could catch glimpses of the world above her.

In those brief flashes, she was vaguely aware of being carried somewhere, or of people surrounding her, the concerned tenor of their voices, and of someone tightly holding her hand, whispering assurances in Cassandra’s ear and _pleading_ with her.

But just as she felt as if the waking world was within her reach, the current would pull her away once again, preventing her from breaking the water’s surface.

She slipped back into unconsciousness, falling into the world of dreams.

* * *

_Cassandra found herself standing on a familiar mountain path. Forest surrounded her on all sides, except for the expansive ruins that laid in front of her. In her unconscious state, she was slow to recognize them as the ruins of the Great Tree._

_Out of the corner of her eye, Cassandra noticed movement. When she turned, she found a figure confidently marching forward into the ruins. Upon closer inspection Cassandra could see that the figure belonged to a young woman with lovely lavender hair that was partially tied up into two neat buns on top of her head, leaving the rest to cascade down her back in loose waves. There was a gemstone adorned on her forehead as part of a beaded headband, a stone similar in shape and color to its predecessor but not quite the same._

_Unsure of why, Cassandra felt compelled to follow the woman as she sauntered into the ruins. She followed her until the woman stopped suddenly in the center of the ruins, approaching the place where the heart of the Great Tree once was. Cassandra moved closer, and when she did, she could see that the woman carried a small seed in her hands. She watched as the figure knelt on the ground, digging into the earth to plant the seed._

_The woman closed her eyes and murmured a few words under her breath, and with the words spoken, the world around them shifted. The remains of the Great Tree flashed with a gentle pulse of green light, and then they disappeared entirely._

_In place of the ruins now stood the sprout of a smaller tree, already standing at Cassandra’s height and growing at a fast rate, aided by magic. The woman smiled a genuine smile at the sight, seeming to relish in the new life. She looked_ happy _. They stood there a moment longer, watching the sapling grow, when the woman turned to look directly at Cassandra._

_Zhan Tiri smirked at her, eyes bright and twinkling with mischief._

_“Until we meet again, my dear.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the epilogue should be up by next sunday! :)


	21. Epilogue

Cassandra returned to consciousness, feeling disoriented. She blinked against the light that filtered into the room, fighting against the fog in her brain as she settled into awareness. With her eyes now open, she looked around the room and found that she recognized her surroundings.

To her surprise, she was back in her old quarters in the castle, sprawled out in her own bed. The room looked exactly as it did before she left on the caravan journey, not an item out of place. The return to a place so familiar was jarring, and she sat up in her bed to take a better look around.

The act of sitting up was more difficult than she expected, and she was caught off guard by how lethargic she felt. She struggled to figure out why she felt so _different_ , so hollow and drained. It wasn’t until a lock of her hair fell in front of her face, raven black instead of brilliant blue, that the memories of the eclipse and its aftermath came crashing over her. Instinctively, she reached for where the opal had once rested on her chest, finding that it was no longer there.

The Moonstone’s absence was a profound feeling. Over the year she had possessed it, she had grown accustomed to the way its power had coursed through her, the way it amplified all of her senses and emotions to an absurd degree. Without the opal, everything felt dull and muted. She could already tell it would take some time to readjust to life without it.

“Cass?” prodded a familiar voice from beside her. Cassandra turned in the direction of the voice, and was surprised to find that she was not alone in her room.

Next to her bedside, Varian and Rapunzel sat in chairs beside her, looking at Cassandra with hopeful expressions. It was Rapunzel who had spoken. Cassandra was taken aback by the sight of her cropped hair, which was now once again brunette following the battle during the eclipse. Varian was seated beside her, a book opened in his lap.

“Hey Raps,” Cassandra responded with a weak smile, and Rapunzel shot out of her chair with glee.

“You’re awake!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms tightly around Cassandra.

“ _Oof._ ”

“Oh whoops, sorry,” Rapunzel said apologetically, loosening her arms. She opted instead to pull her chair closer to the bed, scooting it as close as possible. Varian shuffled his chair beside hers. “You’ve been out for a while. How are you feeling?”

“I’ve…been better, but I’ll manage. What happened? Is everyone else alright?”

“Everyone is safe,” Rapunzel said with a smile, launching into a summary of the battle’s aftermath. By some miracle, no one was injured during the attack. The worst of the fallout was the damage to the castle and some other property damage around the island, but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed; repairs were already well underway. In addition, all of the black rocks had disappeared entirely the moment Cassandra suddenly returned from the Lost Realm.

The news left Cassandra with a sense of relief; she was comforted by the fact that she had successfully managed what she had set out to do. That counted for something, at least.

When Cassandra asked how long she had been unconscious, Varian sheepishly explained that the eclipse was six days ago. Cassandra was surprised to find that she had been incapacitated for so long; at least that explained why she felt so hazy. Varian and Rapunzel finished filling Cassandra in, explaining that she had been drifting in and out of consciousness over that time, but that this was the first time that she was lucid. They mentioned that the Royal Medic had been in a few times to check on her, and he had assured them that there was nothing physically wrong with her. Well…except for her arm, that is.

At the mention of her arm, Cassandra looked down and noticed that her hand and arm were tightly bandaged. Now that she thought to pay attention to it, she could feel the familiar dull throbbing in her arm. Her heart sank when she realized that her arm felt exactly the same as it did before the petrification. The aching was a reminder of the vial that Zhan Tiri had given her in the Lost Realm, and Cassandra made a mental note to speak to Varian about it later.

Rapunzel shifted uncomfortably at the topic of Cassandra’s arm, opting to continue to speak about the Royal Medic’s assessment. “He said that all we can do is give you some time to rest, and that this is all probably just shock, related to the Moonstone or from…wherever it is the portal took you.”

“It’s from losing the Moonstone,” Cassandra confirmed. “Zhan Tiri said that losing it would be a shock to my system at first, but that I would recover.” Cassandra did not think twice about the casual mention of Zhan Tiri until she noticed the looks of surprise on their faces.

That was right; she had forgotten that she had a fair amount of explaining to do.

“Speaking of Zhan Tiri…what happened to her?” Varian asked hesitantly. “Is she still, um, you know-”

“Alive?” Cassandra finished, and Varian nodded. “Yeah. She’s fine.”

“But she’s still trapped in the netherworld,” Rapunzel offered helpfully. Cassandra winced.

“Um, about that, she’s…not. We, uh, kind of worked together to escape.”

Rapunzel stared blankly at her, as if waiting for the punchline. “…you did what?”

Cassandra launched into her account of what had happened in the Lost Realm. She explained that the only way out of the Lost Realm was for the two of them to work together using the drops, mentioning how she wasn’t willing to do so until Zhan Tiri promised to give up her quest for vengeance. Cassandra briefly touched upon the conversation that they had, emphasizing how she had managed to get through to Zhan Tiri and convincing her to agree to leave Corona in peace in exchange for a guarantee of her freedom and a promise that the portal and its plans would be destroyed. She finished with an explanation of how they had to unite the Sundrop and Moonstone and use their combined power to escape, or else they would both still be trapped in there.

“So you’re saying that Zhan Tiri is still out there somewhere,” Rapunzel said in horror. “That’s - Cass, we need to _do_ something!”

“No, we don’t,” Cassandra said resolutely. “Yeah she’s out there, but she’s not going to do anything to Corona, not if we leave her alone. She gave me her word.”

“And you believe her?” Rapunzel demanded, incredulous.

“Do you see Zhan Tiri anywhere?” Cass deadpanned.

“Well, _no_ , but that doesn’t mean she won’t be back! Zhan Tiri is a _demon_ , Cass, she’s _evil_.”

“Oh, well, if we’re going off the stories that Corona tells, then _I’m_ a crazy, unhinged monster bent on destruction. That’s what you were all saying about me for _months_ , even before I stepped foot back in Corona,” Cass snapped, and Rapunzel looked surprised by the heat in her tone. “Don’t you see how this works? Zhan Tiri isn’t a demon, and she isn’t evil; she’s human and she’s _angry._ Demonizing her is what sent her down this path in the first place.”

Cassandra took a deep breath, calming herself before continuing. “Look. Zhan Tiri gave me her word that she would leave Corona in peace, and I gave her mine that I would see to it that her freedom is permanent. All she’s wanted is to be free and to be left alone, so yes, I really believe that she’s good for her word. And yeah, I know how it sounds, but please…just trust me on this.”

They sat there in silence as Rapunzel processed everything, her face filled with stress and doubt. A moment later, Varian broke the silence.

“Well, Zhan Tiri isn’t here, and we don’t know where she is,” Varian quietly chimed in. “So, there really isn’t much we can even _do_. If Cass is right, and she really is leaving Corona alone, then what’s the harm in just letting her be?”

“…I guess there really isn’t much we can do,” Rapunzel relented. She turned back to look at Cassandra, some of the doubt beginning to clear from her expression. “Alright, Cass. If you’re sure about this, then I trust you. I’m just so glad that you’re okay.”

“Me too,” Cassandra responded with a tired smile, relieved that this conversation was over.

They sat there a while longer, and as time went on Cassandra could feel the exhaustion creeping up on her again. She picked at some of the food they had brought for her as she fought against the fatigue, a silent battle that did not go unnoticed by Varian.

“Ha! Who’s the one who needs to sleep now, huh?” Varian teased as Cassandra once again struggled to keep her eyes open.

Cassandra snorted. “That’s still you, kid.”

But she couldn’t deny that she was absolutely exhausted. Rapunzel and Varian encouraged her to get some rest, reassuring her that they would be around if she needed anything. She did not need much encouragement; she still felt incredibly weak, and was itching to fall back to sleep so that her body could recover from the shock of it all.

Within minutes she was sound asleep once again, feeling comfortable and at peace.

* * *

A week went by, and Cassandra had progressed considerably on her road to recovery. Slowly but surely, her strength returned to her as she got used to life without the Moonstone. It was strange, having to readjust to sleeping and eating regularly once again. Normalcy had never felt so foreign of a concept.

Now that she was finally feeling well enough to stand up and move, she was itching to put an end to her bed rest, leave her quarters, and just go _somewhere_. So when Rapunzel proposed that they could venture off the island for a few hours and visit the Lost Lagoon, just the two of them, Cassandra jumped on the opportunity. She was desperate to escape the walls of the castle, even if it was only for a little while.

Currently she sat in her room preparing for the outing, waiting for Rapunzel to finish her duties. While she waited for Rapunzel to meet up with her at her quarters, Cassandra found herself reflecting on everything that had transpired that past week.

Not that there was much that had happened; most of her time had been spent confined to her room on bed rest. The monotony was broken up only by visits from other people, and in the last couple of days, brief walks through the castle and its grounds. Varian and Rapunzel visited her often to keep her company, and to Cassandra’s surprise, even Eugene and Lance made an effort to visit and keep her company, a gesture that she appreciated.

In addition, the Captain also stopped by often to sit with her, or to accompany her on her brief walks. While there were a handful of tense and awkward conversations sprinkled between easier topics of conversation, much of the time she shared with her father was spent in comfortable silence, a nice reprieve from the constant chatting of the others. Cassandra greatly appreciated the companionable silence, and she knew her father was just as content.

As much as Cassandra was grateful for the care and support of her friends and family, she couldn’t help but notice the undercurrent of tension that existed. The others, namely the Captain and Rapunzel, tried to dance around the topic, but Cassandra was painfully aware that her presence in the castle wasn’t well received by most. She could see distrust, wariness, and even fear reflected in the eyes of the people she crossed paths with on her short walks around the castle, doubt etched into their faces. While no one would admit it, she suspected that this was the primary reason she had not once been left unaccompanied until today, and even then she was only left alone within the confines of her room.

It was evident that the only reason Cassandra found herself spending so much time in her quarters instead of an interrogation room was because Rapunzel (and the Captain) had jumped to her defense, advocating on her behalf and pleading her case. Despite Rapunzel’s insistence in telling everyone that “Cassandra was trying to protect Corona the entire time” and how “Cassandra _sacrificed_ herself to save Corona”, Cassandra suspected that this air of tension would linger for a long time.

Before she could continue to dwell on the topic, Cassandra’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on her door.

“Come in,” she called out, expecting Rapunzel. The door opened, and to her surprise, it was instead Varian standing in the doorway. “Oh, hey Varian.”

“You look antsy,” Varian teased as he stepped into the room to find Cassandra pacing back and forth, visibly prepared for an outing. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah. I’m heading out for a little bit with Rapunzel, whenever she’s done with her princess duties.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” Varian pointed out, and Cassandra scowled in response.

“I’ve rested enough. If I have to spend another hour in here, I’m going to lose my mind.”

“You’re a terrible patient. You know that, right?”

Cassandra snorted at that. “Oh please. As if you would be any better.”

“Excuse you. I would be a _model_ patient,” Varian retorted. “ _But_ , the topic of your recovery brings me to why I am here.”

“And what would that be?” Cassandra asked, bemused.

“ _This_ ,” Varian said, pulling out a vial out of his bag. Cassandra recognized it as the vial that Zhan Tiri had given her; she had passed it on to Varian a few days ago so he could run some preliminary tests.

“You’re finished with it?” Cassandra accepted the vial back with a look of surprise, and Varian beamed. “Impressive. What’d you find?”

“It took me a while, and it wasn’t easy, _but_ I was able to identify all of the components in the formula,” Varian bragged with a proud look. He continued on to explain how he was able to figure out every single ingredient of the tonic, and that the properties of these components put together demonstrate a strong, albeit temporary, resistance to magic. In other words, it looked like a promising way to keep the decay in her arm under control, but she would need a constant supply of tonic.

“I have to figure out where to find more of one of the critical ingredients, but it shouldn’t take too long to get a hold of. Then I’ll be able to make more of it,” Varian finished. He looked up at Cassandra’s face, and when he found anxiety there, he went to reassure her. “Hey. Don’t worry. This will work, I’m sure of it. And even if it doesn’t, we’ll figure something out. _I promise_.”

Cassandra saw Varian’s earnest expression, and she was struck by a sudden wave of gratitude for the kid. Ever since she had returned to Corona, he had been a steadfast source of unwavering and unconditional support, something that Cassandra would always be grateful for.

“I…thank you, Varian. Not just for this, but for _everything_. I really don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“I, uh, it’s really no problem, Cass. I-I’m happy to help,” Varian responded, cheeks flushed red as he ran a hand through his hair in embarrassment. Then he beamed at her, the soft smile turning into a teasing grin. “Besides, you required the _specific_ help of an alchemy extraordinaire; how could I in good conscience say no in your hour of need?”

“ _Hey_. I was trying to be nice. Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Too late.”

Before Cassandra could quip back at Varian, Rapunzel’s cheery voice cut into the conversation as she appeared in the doorway. “Hey Cass! Are you ready to-oh, hi Varian!”

“Hey Raps,” Cassandra responded as Varian waved his greeting to Rapunzel. “Yeah, I’m all set.”

“By the way, where are you two off to?” Varian asked, curious.

Rapunzel smiled brightly and shared a conspiratorial look with Cassandra. “Oh, nowhere in particular. We’re just headed out to walk around for a few hours. You know, see the sights, get some fresh air.”

“Well, alright then. In that case, don’t let me hold you two up,” Varian said with a smile and a pair of finger guns as he backed out of the room.“Have fun on your walk!”

“Bye Varian!” Rapunzel waved cheerfully. The moment Rapunzel’s back turned on Varian, the alchemist shot a knowing look at Cassandra. His cheeky grin widened as he shot her a thumbs up and made a show of winking. Cassandra briefly considered drop kicking him out the window, but he dipped out of sight before she could act on that thought.

With that, Cassandra and Rapunzel were headed off on their adventure. On their way out, they walked through the halls of the castle, Rapunzel rambling brightly about the events of her day. Cassandra listened and responded half-heartedly, finding herself distracted by each person they crossed paths with along the way.

As expected, many of the people they passed stared at Cassandra with wary looks, unsure of what to make of her presence beside Rapunzel. With each person stupidly bold enough to meet her eye, Cassandra made it a point to stare right back until they looked away, looking immensely uncomfortable.

 _Good! You should feel uncomfortable,_ she thought, finding petty satisfaction in the act.

Once the two of them were clear of the halls of the castle and the streets of Corona, there was no one left around to stare. The rest of their journey went without incident, and it was not long before they reached their destination; the Lost Lagoon.

The two of them approached the shore of the lagoon, their idle chitchat momentarily dying out into a comfortable silence as they sat along the water’s edge, admiring the lagoon’s beauty. As they sat, Cassandra noted that this was the first time that the two of them had been alone together since the eclipse.

“I’m always amazed by how beautiful this place is,” Rapunzel breathed in awe. “Every time it’s even more breathtaking than I remember.”

“It really is beautiful,” Cassandra agreed, looking over the waters of the lagoon in contentment.

“You know, the last time I was here was the night I ran into you,” Rapunzel admitted, and Cassandra turned to see Rapunzel anxiously running her hands through her, now significantly shorter, hair. Cassandra could sense that they were broaching a more serious topic of conversation.

“That was the last time I was here, too. Haven’t had a chance to come back since.”

Rapunzel laughed lightly. “It’s strange, looking back on it now. I just remember having no idea what was going on, but I was still so happy to see you. And now I’m just so glad to have you back, Cass.”

“Yeah. I’m glad that this whole ordeal is finally over,” Cassandra admitted, still filled with relief by that fact.

“And…you’re sure that it is?” Rapunzel asked, tentative.

Cassandra frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, Zhan Tiri is still out there somewhere. Are you sure that she won’t come back and finish what she started?”

Before she responded with _of course she was sure_ , Cassandra took a moment to seriously consider the question. She thought back to that last conversation she had with Zhan Tiri in the Lost Realm, and remembered the vulnerable manner in which she examined the seed in her hands, and the resignation on her face when she agreed to leave Corona alone. She also thought back to her “dream” of the Great Tree, and how Zhan Tiri’s face was no longer full of rage, but rather of happiness.

And in Cassandra’s consideration, she also had one new piece of information to draw upon. In the days following the eclipse, Cassandra had felt a strange, nearly imperceptible tug in the back on her mind. She initially brushed it off as another strange sensation of losing the Moonstone, but then the realization dawned on her; Zhan Tiri’s tracking spell, the one she had casted right before the eclipse so they could keep track of each other. Cassandra had forgotten about it, and in the fallout of the eclipse and destroying the gemstone, Zhan Tiri never got the opportunity to undo the spell. Focusing on the subtle tug, Cassandra got confirmation that Zhan Tiri was well beyond the walls of Corona, miles and miles away.

“Yeah. I’m sure of it,” Cassandra responded, searching Rapunzel’s face for her reaction. She seemed to consider Cassandra’s response for a moment before the tension left her shoulders, and she relaxed.

“Alright. If you believe it, then I’ll trust your judgment,” Rapunzel said with a soft smile. “But wow. What a month it’s been, huh?”

Cassandra laughed, a genuine sound. “You could say that again. It’s been a year, really.”

“It’s so nice to have you back, Cass. I’ve really missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Raps,” Cassandra said, and she meant it. It had been a long time since they had sat like this, the two of them side by side and at ease with each other. It felt like old times.

Except…these weren’t the old times, not anymore. Cassandra was painfully aware of that, and she knew by now that it would do no good to ignore it. With one look at Rapunzel’s face, Cassandra got the impression that the princess was aware of it too.

“So, what comes next for you?” Rapunzel asked hesitantly, as if afraid of the answer.

Cassandra was surprised by the inquiry. It was a good question, one that had been lingering in the back of her mind since the eclipse.

Where _did_ she go from here?

“I’m…not sure,” Cassandra admitted. She knew that she stood at a crossroads, that much was certain. If nothing else, she knew that she could never return to her previous position. Going back to being a lady-in-waiting was out of the question; she never wanted to be a servant again.

In one of their conversations the past week, her father had brought up the possibility of offering Cassandra a position on the guard. _Permanent_ , this time, not some one-off assignments like she had been offered in the past. Cassandra was torn by the offer; it was what she had worked hard for and wanted for so long, but…she didn’t want it like this. Not now, not after everything that had happened.

But what else was there for her?

She didn’t know, and that frightened her. For all of her life, her identity had been tied too closely to Corona. All she had ever wanted was to be a guard, an ambition that had been driven entirely by a need to prove herself to Corona, to prove that she was someone worthy of admiration and respect. But now, in the aftermath of this whirlwind of a year, Cassandra had learned that she could bleed herself dry in an effort to prove herself, but it didn’t mean that she could ever make others _care_. In the shadow of that realization, Cassandra found herself determined to find a destiny for _herself_ , and not one in service to the expectation of others.

For the first time in her life, Cassandra had no clear idea of what to work toward, a reality that was every bit liberating as it was terrifying. She turned to look at Rapunzel, who was patiently waiting for Cassandra to continue.

“I don’t know what I’ll do, but I think I need to take time to figure some things out…outside of Corona.”

“Wait. Do you mean that you’re leaving?” Rapunzel questioned, looking surprised and more than a little bit upset.

“I-I’m thinking about it. It’s just, after everything, I think I just need some distance from it all. For so much of my life, all I wanted to do was prove to everyone that there was more to me, and now…I’m not sure what I want. I just…something is telling me that I need to go out there and find my _own_ destiny, outside of Corona.”

To Cassandra’s surprise, Rapunzel did not try to argue. She only nodded once, smiling sadly in understanding. “It’s funny. All this time I thought your place was here, in Corona…with me,” she admitted, nervously playing with her hands. “But, as much as I hate to let you go, I know you’re right.”

Cassandra smiled softly at Rapunzel, playfully bumping into her shoulder in an attempt to cheer her up. She was rewarded with one of Rapunzel’s bright smiles. “Hey. I’m not leaving right away, you know. I’ll stick around for at least a little while longer. At the very least, I need to stay until Varian and I figure out what to do about my arm.”

At the mention of her arm, something changed in Rapunzel’s expression. “Actually, that reminds me; there’s a reason I wanted to bring you here.”

“What, you mean besides sparing me from the boredom of my medical house arrest?” Cassandra teased.

“Yeah, that was just an added bonus,” Rapunzel replied with a laugh as she reached into her bag. She fumbled around for a moment before she found whatever she was looking for, pulling it out with a triumphant look.

Then, she held out her hand, revealing a small object that sat in her palm. It was no larger than a splinter, noticeably glowing with golden magic.

Cassandra’s eyes widened in recognition. “Is that-”

“A shard of the Sundrop,” Rapunzel confirmed, gently cradling it in her hand. “I found it on the floor yesterday, while I was looking through the damage in my room. It must have gotten misplaced during everything that was going on. I…thought we might be able to use it to heal your arm,” she said sheepishly. Cassandra was stunned, and at a loss for words.

“That-that might work,” was what she was eventually able to stutter out.

Rapunzel sat patiently as Cassandra carefully removed her glove, and then unwrapped the bandage from around her hand and arm. The removal of the bandage revealed the charred and withered husk of Cassandra’s arm, and the two of them sat in solemn silence staring at it until Rapunzel tentatively reached out to gently place her hand over Cassandra’s ruined hand.

Closing her eyes, Rapunzel began to recite the words to the healing incantation. Cassandra watched in awe as light spilled out of the shard, enveloping Rapunzel and Cassandra’s arm in a warm golden glow. Cassandra could _feel_ the magic healing her arm, gently working against the decay magic until it faded entirely. The golden light was soon to follow, extinguishing itself once its job was finished.

“It worked,” Cassandra breathed, lifting up her newly healed hand to examine it.

The pain and aching associated with the decay of her arm had vanished, and Cassandra once again had the full range of motion she possessed before she had to retrain her hand. For the first time in a long time, it felt every bit as functional as her left hand. All that remained of the injury was the charred skin and extensive scarring.

While the scarring provided a permanent reminder of the damage that had been done, the important part was that the decay was _gone_. Her arm, much like her relationship with Rapunzel, was finally on the mend.

Cassandra looked up from her hand to meet Rapunzel’s gaze. Cassandra then moved to envelop Rapunzel in a hug, a gesture of warmth that she was quick to reciprocate.

“I love you, Raps,” Cassandra said, softly smiling over her shoulder. Rapunzel melted into the hug, and Cassandra could feel the smile on Rapunzel’s face.

“I love you too, Cass.”

There was so much more Cassandra wanted to say, but for now she was content as they settled into a comfortable silence. She knew that they would have more time to talk and clear the air between them. Sure, she wanted to leave Corona in pursuit of her destiny, but she wanted to leave on a good note. She wanted to make sure that things were changing, that _Rapunzel_ had changed since their caravan journey. There was work that needed to be done in repairing their relationship, and Cassandra found herself hopeful that they would be able to figure it out together.

For now, they sat staring out over the serene waters of the Lost Lagoon, Rapunzel leaning her head against Cassandra’s shoulder. Cassandra was smiling, feeling perfectly at ease for the first time in a long time.

Soon she would set out into the world and get the space she needed to sort herself out, but for now, she was content to enjoy the present moment. She did not know what the next chapter of her story would look like, but Cassandra knew one thing was certain:

Her destiny was her own to forge.

**Author's Note:**

> *mic drop*
> 
> thank you so much to everyone for the support for this story!! this is actually the first fic i ever finished, so i'm really proud about that. i hope you all enjoyed this story as much as i loved writing it :')
> 
> i also wanted to give a huge shout out and my undying, eternal gratitude to @FeatherandStorm for being such an incredible beta reader. she was such a huge help in all of this and graciously put up with hours of me not shutting up about tangled. and if you're interested in more cassandra & zhan tiri content and/or want to read a really fun tangled dungeons & dragons au, you can find her newly posted fic (Magic Story You've Been Told) [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28546449/chapters/69954930)!
> 
> also if you want to come chat with me or stay updated on other fics i'm working on, then you can find me at [daylightlucidity](https://daylightlucidity.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!


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